Master
by CJinn
Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi had always wanted to become a Jedi Knight. What he didn't expect was to become a Master merely days after his own Master died. Adapting to his new role as the mentor and Master of the quite unusual Padawan Anakin Skywalker became a bumpy road. This story is more or less a collection of individual stories that follow the timeline immediately after Naboo.
1. Chapter 1: The Promise

_**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately I don't own any of the main characters in this story. They all belong to George Lucas/Disney. I'm just having fun with exploring their lives. _

**...**

 **Chapter 1: The Promise**

"You will be a Jedi. I promise."

There. It was said. The promise was given. Obi-Wan Kenobi swallowed the lump in his throat and looked up from the half worried, half expectant face of young Anakin Skywalker who stood beside him as his own Master's body slowly was consumed by the funeral pyre.

A little more than a day earlier he had made another promise. A promise to the man who had been his mentor, his friend, his father for the last 12 years. The man whose body now was laying dead and still on the pyre. Qui-Gon Jinn's dying words had been 'Train him' , a reminder that Obi-Wan only seconds before had promised him to do just that. And for all the love he had for his Master and for all the honor he felt, he intended to do just that.

He just wished he didn't have to.

When Qui-Gon had proclaimed he intended to train the boy himself he had felt betrayed and hurt in a way he'd never experienced before. They had come to terms with each other before the final battle against the black and red-tabooed Sith, but still he really, really wished he didn't have to. He couldn't explain it, it was like the Force itself was yelling 'Danger, danger' into his ears, but there was no way he could resign from his promise now. He owed his deceased Master that much, and more.

But, Force, he wished he didn't have to. Two day's ago he had been an apprentice, a Padawan learner himself. Now he was less than 24 hours into his knighthood and already a Master. Albeit not a Master as a result of age, wisdom and experience, but still - having a Padawan would entitle him to the…well…title of Master when others addressed him. It was sheer madness. Impossible. It couldn't happen. And still it had.

It had been a tough fight with words. The entire Council had arrived from Coruscant in the afternoon the day before, and Obi-Wan had been there to meet them, grateful that young Skywalker was left behind in the competent care of the Queen's handmaidens. At least for the moment. He had greeted the Council and followed them to one assigned chamber in the Theed Palace where they had had an improvised council meeting and he had reported the previous day's events.

There had been many questions, and not so many answers from his side. Yes, he believed that the stranger was a Sith. He had been very competent in the art of lightsaber combat. Yes, it was the Sith that had killed Master Jinn. And yes, he had killed the Sith himself. He had earnestly told them about that single, terrible moment when anger and hate had flooded him like a mighty wave, but then receded and left a silent determination behind. He would accept Qui-Gon's death, but he would not let the Sith have the opportunity of killing anyone else. So he had jumped, called Qui-Gon's 'saber to himself and sliced the Sith in two, not because he was angry, far less because of hatred but as a necessity to survive himself.

The Council had accepted his explanation, -and his reasons.

He had been asked to wait outside the chamber and so he did, tired to his bones and totally sleep deprived. He knew well that a Jedi shouldn't cling to the memory of those who passed away, but so he did. He had tossed and turned in the bed in his bedchamber but sleep wouldn't find him, so finally he had given up and walked quietly out into the garden. There the tears came. Tears for his Master, tears for himself and in an obscure way also tears for little Anakin who had been deprived of his master to be, even before he became an apprentice.

Finally he had fallen asleep under a tree in the garden and he barely managed to sneak inside the Castle again before the servants woke to their daily routines.

Eventually he was called into the chamber again and Master Yoda proclaimed: "Discussed the matter we have. Your trials you have passed and a Jedi Knight you are from this day forward."

He had been completely flabbergasted and the only word he was able to speak was a plain: "Why?"

The obvious surprise had made several council members smile, despite the slightly somber feeling in the room.

"The first Jedi to defeat a Sith in combat in a thousand years you are. Tempted by the dark side you were, but passed through your anger and thirst for revenge you did. This is the greatest of all trials, and passed it you have. A Knight you will be if you accept it."

At that moment he had knelt down on his right knee, partly because tradition demanded it, but even more because his legs were so wobbly that they hardly would carry him anymore. The Council Masters had stepped forward and with their 'sabers raised in the air above him old Master Yoda had performed the ancient knighting ritual and cut his padawan braid.

He was a Knight, at last. The moment he had looked forward to and wished for was finally there and all he could feel was an all consuming emptiness as he stood with his braid in his hand and no-one there to give it to. In that moment he should have handed it over to Qui-Gon and he would have seen the older man's eyes shine with pride. Instead he curled it up and tucked it into a pocked in his utility belt.

As the masters stepped back he rose. Fortunately his legs were more co-operative now.

Then he made a deep bow towards the council.

"Masters, if I may speak one more thing…?"

Mace Windu nodded silently.

"When Qui-Gon, when Master Jinn died, he made me promise to train the boy, Anakin Skywalker. I promised him to do so. I will ask of the Jedi Council to grant me the right to train Anakin Skywalker to become a Jedi Knight."

The chamber turned deadly silent.

"Train the boy? Impossible it is. Too old he is, and too dangerous. A Jedi he should not be," Yoda stated.

"I expected this reaction, Masters. Still, I gave my Master my promise and I will fulfill it, with or without your permission. My honor bids me to do so."

The old Master sighed inaudible: "Please leave the chamber and wait outside. Another discussion we will have."

Obi-Wan bowed and left once again.

This time it took longer time for the verdict to be ready, but eventually the old Master came hobbling out from the chamber.

"Agree with you taking this boy as a Padawan learner I do not." For once the old Jedi's patience had left him.

"Qui-Gon believed in him."

The Chosen One the boy may be. Nevertheless grave danger I feel in his training."

"Master Yoda, I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin. Without the approval of the Council if I must.

"Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you. Need that you do not. Agree with you the Council does. Your apprentice Skywalker will be."

And with that the matter had been settled. Obi-Wan had become a Master.

The rest of the day went in a blur and he never even managed to see his brand new Padawan until the day was almost over. He had managed to retire to his own room, totally exhausted, when he heard the door to Anakin's room being opened and then closed again.

Quietly he rose from the couch, and exited his own room.

A soft knock on Anakin's door and a young, slightly quivering voice answered: "Come in."

The boy was alone in the room, sitting on his bed. His boots had been kicked off and he looked every bit a forlorn puppy.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said cautiously.

"What?" Anakin's eyes met his own with a surprising clear glance.

"I have come to ask you…they have allowed me to be your Master since Qui-Gon…." Again the traitorous lump in his throat threatened of suffocating him. He began again.

"Anakin, would you like to become my Padawan? The Council has approved it."

"What?"

"Would you like to become my Padawan?" he tried again.

He could see Anakin fight back his tears. Clearly this was not what the boy had expected, far less wanted.

Silently he laid his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Anakin. I know this wasn't what you wanted."

"Yes." The word came out almost as a whisper. Obi-Wan wasn't certain of what the answer related to. Was it a 'Yes I want to be your Padawan' or a 'Yes, you're right, I don't want _you_ as my Master'. Maybe it was a mixture of both?

He tried again.

"If that was a yes, we have work to do."

"Oh?" The boy looked quizzically up at his face. Some of the sadness seemed to have been replaced by expectation.

"Yes. We will be present at Qui-Gon's funeral pyre tomorrow and if you accept we must make you look like a proper Padawan. You need a haircut and a braid."

The boy jumped down from the bed and rummaged through the desk. Triumphantly he pulled a pair of scissors from a drawer.

"Do it! " he ordered.

It wasn't the most flawless haircut in the world, but 20 minutes later most of Anakin's thick hair had been cut off and a little pigtail was neatly bound together in the back of his head. A very short braid with a tuft of red-gold hair intertwined with the boy's own blond hair could be seen behind his right ear.

"We will pledge our vows as Master and Padawan to the Council tomorrow morning," Obi-Wan explained. "Now, you need to get some sleep. I have a small errand to run, then I will be in the adjacent room the whole night if you need me. Sleep well….Padawan."

"Good night, Master." The boy had already undressed and was buried deeply below the duvet.

Obi-Wan left and closed the door quietly behind him. Then, with long determined strides he set off for the room in the basement where Qui-Gon was resting on lit de parade before tomorrow's funeral pyre.

Softly he stepped towards the deathbed.

"Master, this will be our final goodbye. I just want to thank you for everything you taught me and everything you were to me, despite I know you cannot hear me now. And rest assured that I will do my best to fulfill the promise I gave you. Anakin _will_ become a Jedi Knight."

When he left the room a curled, red-gold braid with one silka bead lacking was resting nicely in Qui-Gon's folded hands.


	2. Chapter 2: Homecoming

**Chapter 2: Homecoming**

The starship silently docked by the Jedi Temple and the entire Jedi Council disembarked. Following suit were two figures, a blond boy and a taller young man with spiky red-gold hair. Even and untrained eye would see that they both looked tired, sad and a bit forlorn.

"Where are we going?" Anakin asked, "Are we going to stay in your apartment? I mean, the one you shared with Master Qui-Gon?"

"I don't know, actually," the older one answered. "I have taken it for granted, but I believe I will have to get a confirmation. Would you like us to stay there?"

"I think so," Anakin bit his lower lip, "if you want to, I mean. It's your _home_. And it was Master Qui-Gon's, so if we stay maybe it won't feel so lonely?"

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. It would be torture to see Qui-Gon's things again knowing that he would never return, that he never would hear the familiar baritone voice again or smell the Master's favorite freshly brewed sapir tea in the morning. Again the Force forsaken lump formed in his throat and he had to swallow to get his feelings under control again. He couldn't, wouldn't, break down and cry - at least not when Anakin was present. He would be every bit the Jedi Master he didn't feel like being. Not yet. Maybe never.

He had been so deep in thoughts that he didn't notice the almost unnatural silence in the entrance hall when the huge doors had closed behind them. The Temple was never a really noisy place but a low humming of voices could always be heard beneath the high ceilings. The Temple never slept, not even when most of it's inhabitants did.

Now it was depressively, eerily silent.

Yet it wasn't empty. As Obi-Wan followed the Council Members indoors he could see small groups which had gathered in the hall. Stray by-passers cast him curious glances and he felt like something that had been dragged in by a kitling. It made him wonder if he somehow had forgotten to dress in leggings this morning, but a discreet glance down toward his boots confirmed that every possible part of the Jedi attire was in place.

Then the whispering started. At first he couldn't hear the words, it was only a silent humming coming from many throats. Then he heard the most repeated word in the conversations: "Sithkiller."

For a moment he felt like the air was squeezed out of his lungs and he could hardly breathe. Sithkiller… A title he'd never ever wanted to have. It would for always remind him of the horrendous battle and the sickening feeling when he saw his Master fall, pierced by a red lightsaber. Then he straightened his back.

 _I have to act like I didn't hear that. I cannot respond to it whatsoever. They will forget. They will talk of the 'Sithkiller' for some days and then they will stop. At least I hope so. Let's take first things first, Anakin and I will need a place to stay, so let us get that matter settled._

 _"_ Anakin?"

"Yes. I mean, yes Master."

"Follow me. We'll go down into the lower levels to the depot and ask for the gear you need. They will also be able to assign us accommodation, be it our…mine…Qui-Gon's and mine old or a new one."

"Yes, Master."

The depot was just as quiet, just as chilly and just as scary as it had been when Obi-Wan came back from Bandomeer as Qui-Gon Jinn's new Padawan. He had been so scared then. Scared that his new status would be a fraud and that he would wake in his bunk in the cabin on Bandomeer again. Scared that Qui-Gon would realize that he was wrong and reject him as his Padawan again when things had settled down. For the first months he had been so terribly _scared_.

 _There is no emotion, there is peace._

Despite the old jedi code he could feel some of the same fear emanating from Anakin.

 _"What if he doesn't want me?"_

And this time there was no Tahl around to make the new Master-Padawan pair feel comfortable with each other, no Tahl to rebuke the Master and no Tahl to soothe the Padawan. He simply had to do the job himself.

"Padawan Kenobi, what do you want?"

The brusque voice from the Master of the Depot broke his train of thoughts.

"Actually I…," he began, but he never managed to finish the sentence before a younger voice chimed in.

"He's _not_ a Padawan. He's a Master. He's _my_ Master. And we want a place to stay…"

"Hush, Anakin," he said and laid a hand gently on Anakin's shoulder, "I apologize for my Padawan's behavior, Master Chacl. But it is correct what he says, we really would appreciate to be assigned quarters and he _will_ need a full padawan gear."

Master Chacl gaped.

"You are…what happened?"

"I am. Master Jinn was…killed on our last mission. And I have been granted the task of mentoring young Anakin Skywalker. I guess that makes me a…Master, sort of."

The Master of Depot nodded silently.

"Very well, _Master_ Kenobi, I will find a standard set of gear for your Padawan and then we'll see if we can find accommodation for you. Do you have any wishes?"

"I..we…Would it be possible for us to stay in Master Jinn's and mine apartment?"

Obi-Wan had not intended to sound so praying, but even he could hear the silent hope emanating from his own voice.

Master Chacl just disappeared into the inner sanctum of his depot. A few minutes later he came back with a huge pile of clothing, most of it in a size fitting a nine year old human, but on the top lay a brown robe of Obi-Wan's own size and a 3D printed sign proudly stating: "Kenobi/Skywalker".

"I hope I got the boy's name right," he said calmly, "and I couldn't avoid noticing that your robe has seen better days Master Kenobi. By the way, you have been assigned the old Jinn/Kenobi apartment."

In a daze Obi-Wan left the depot with Anakin (and a huge pile of clothing and bed linen) in tow. They had always assumed that the day Master Chacl freely gave out anything would be the day the Galaxy ceased to exist. And he had actually got a new robe without even asking for it, far less requesting it.

Now he felt slightly scared too…

The apartment was silently awaiting them. Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment before he put his hand on the opening mechanism and the door slid open. He was home, and yet not… Home had been with his Master, not with this young boy with sandy hair by his side. That just wasn't home. A sting of shame struck him and he turned to Anakin, hoping fervently he had managed to shield his emotions so well that the boy didn't perceive them.

Instead he turned towards Anakin: "Welcome to your new home, Anakin."

They both stepped into the small hall. Both man and boy with mixed emotions, coming from the same source. Last time Anakin had been here he'd hoped he one day would get back with Qui-Gon Jinn as his Master, the last time Obi-Wan had been here there had been this tension between him and his Master after the near repudiation of himself Qui-Gon had uttered in the Council Chamber.

For a moment he stood silent, reining in his immediate wish to run into his own room, close the door behind him and cry until there were no tears left. He couldn't. Partly because he needed to be strong for Anakin, or at least give an outward expression of being strong, and partly because…his room wasn't his any more. Or, would cease to be in a few minutes. It would be Anakin's, and, Force forbid, he had to be the intruder in Qui-Gon's room. For a moment it felt almost like blasphemy.

"Anakin, we have work to do. I want you to have the bedroom to the right, the one you slept in before we…were sent to Naboo. Can you please remove all the stuff you find in the closet and take it out into the hall, and I will do the same with what's in Qui-Gon's room?"

And with that Master and Padawan went to work.

A Jedi truly possess very few belongings so one hour later both bedrooms were emptied. And the hall was full of various clothing and other gear. Plus some of Obi-Wan's meticulously put together models of spaceships.

"These are wizard, Master. Can I keep some of them? I mean, If you want them yourself I understand but a Master cannot have spaceship models all over the place, can he? I mean, can you?"

For the first time in something that felt like an eternity Obi-Wan burst out with laughter.

"No, I guess I cannot. Feel free to pick those you want. But we need to get a cleanbot to clean the rooms before we move in again."

He grabbed the comm link and requested a cleanbot to come and clean the two bedrooms in the Kenobi/Skywalker quarters.

"What do you say, Anakin. I believe we have earned mid-day meal by now. Shall we go down to the refectory and grab a bite while the bot is doing it's work? "

Anakin nodded eagerly. Truth be spoken, he was really hungry by now.

Side by side the two stepped out of their apartment and set course for the refectory.

The refectory was usually a noisy place at this time of the day, but in the very same moment as Obi-Wan and Anakin entered the room and lined up in the queue before the counter the noise gradually died, and numerous pair of eyes turned towards them.

The whispering began again.

"Kenobi…"

"Sithkiller…"

"The boy has become his apprentice though he's way too old."

"He's the first one to kill a sith in a millennium.

"Pretend you don't hear them," Obi-Wan muttered to Anakin. "We're the news of the day, but it will soon fade."

Anakin just nodded. He wanted to scream out towards all the whispering voices: "You don't know anything. My Master killed the Sith after Qui-Gon was dead and I know I'm too old for this but Qui-Gon picked me and I will become a Jedi and I will make Obi-Wan proud."

But instead he pursed his lips tightly together and pretended they were slave traders on the market.

After several long, excruciating minutes they both had their trays loaded and they set off for the nearest empty table. As soon as they had seated, the noise level increased again.

"I assure you, Anakin, neither of us have grown four ears and 12 eyes… They will stop gossiping in some days," Obi-Wan tried to calm the rebellious feelings emanating from his Padawan, "and the first thing we must begin training is how you can shield your emotions. I believe every Jedi in the room perceived your emotions when we were lined up there."

"Oh…," Anakin mumbled, mouth full with spicy grainbread. Then he swallowed. "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I just didn't like them staring at us like that."

"I know," Obi-Wan sighed, "I know. I don't like it either, but I assume we will have to get used to it for the nearest future."

They polished off their plates and returned to their quarters as quick as they could.

Both bedrooms were clean and shiny and they decided to move in before they called it a day. It was with a heavy heart Obi-Wan collected Qui-Gon's remaining clothes into sacs to carry them back to the depot for cleaning and possible re-use by some other tall Master. He knew it was the only sensible thing to do, but somehow this simple task felt even more final than Qui-Gon's funeral pyre had been.

"We need to carry Qui-Gon's clothes down to the depot, " he sighed. "I assume we can do that at once. I will need to go through his other things when I'm settled and get rid of what's not useful anymore."

And with that they left quarters - again.

For the remaining part of the evening they were settling in in their respective rooms. Anakin busied himself with decorating the room with the chosen model spaceships while Obi-Wan was rummaging through Qui-Gon's belongings. Every now and then his heart contracted in pain when he recognized a drawing or small item he had given his Master for the Winter Festival.

 _Let it go. A Jedi craves nothing from the past and these were given to Qui-Gon. They are not mine to keep._

Then he saw it. It was a hologram taken on his 14th life day. He was standing between Qui-Gon and Tahl, all three of them looking almost ridiculously happy. The picture was taken outside Didi Oddo's place in Coco Town and he remembered that Qui-Gon had invited both him and Tahl there for a life day meal. When the picture was taken he had been so full that he barely managed to smile.

Silently he picked up the picture and placed it in the shelf. Blast the Jedi's attachment rule, he _needed_ it. Just as much as he needed the black riverstone lined with red veins.

The room across the hall had become suspiciously quiet, and he rose to peek in. Anakin had collapsed on the bed, snoring softly, totally exhausted by the day's events. Carefully Obi-Wan took his boots off. Brushing teeth and wearing sleeping clothes would have to wait for another day. Softly Obi-Wan draped the blanked over the sleeping boy and returned to his own room.

Only minutes later he was dressed in his own sleep pants and covered by the new blankets in his new room, and with a black riverstone clenched in his right fist. Somehow it felt comforting.


	3. Chapter 3: Settling In

**Chapter 3: Settling In**

"Obi-Wan! Wake up. Master…"

The shrill young voice penetrated Obi-Wan's sleep and he woke as he felt the blanket being pulled off his still half asleep body.

"Mmmmpfhhh…"

"Master! We have to get up. You're going to have me ins…inscribed to classes and we need to get there early. You said so yesterday and it's almost seventh hour already."

"Oh, did I? What? Seventh hour. By the Force, we should have been doing the morning meditation already."

The young Master bounced out of his bed and set the course towards the 'fresher, slamming his elbow into the doorframe as he entered. A silent 'ow' was all Anakin could filter out from the words emanating from his Master's lips.

Two minutes later he emerged, small droplets still pearling from his fringe after an all too hasty face splashing with cold water.

"Come on, Anakin. We have to go. We have an appointment with Master Sher'an at seventh hour sharp."

"We'll be too late for that anyway," Anakin muttered, "and besides, I'm hungry."

"Anakin, _come on_!"

Anakin followed with a slightly furtive mien.

They came to the appointment only three minutes too late and by that they avoided a scolding from Master Sher'an, only a slight disapproving glance could be seen."

"Master Kenobi, I've been expecting you."

Obi-Wan felt an urge to look back over his own shoulder to see who this 'Master Kenobi' was. It surely would take time to adapt to his new title. Somehow 'Master Kenobi' seemed less…fluent than 'Master Jinn'.

They quickly agreed upon Anakin's timetable for the first three months and Anakin and Obi-Wan left the office.

"Now, let's go to the refectory and get you some food before you meet to your first class."

Surely it wouldn't look good letting his Padawan starve to death the first week. Hopefully he would avoid such a disaster in the upcoming weeks as well. He really needed to do some shopping of groceries for the upcoming days. They would need to have something to eat for first meal in their own apartment on days like these.

…

Slamming an electronically guided door behind him should in principle be impossible, but Anakin made it with aplomb.

"Anakin! Don't slam the door. How did you manage it anyways?"

"Like this!" The door opened a bit and slammed shut again.

Obi-Wan held up his hands in defeat.

"OK, OK, I get it. Something is wrong and you're upset. What happened? "

"They've…they've…put me in a class with…babies!"

Anakin's voice was so indignant that he could hardly speak coherently.

"With babies?" Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow quizzically, "how so? I believe it isn't possible. All classes demands that one at least is able to speak coherently."

"Masterrrr!" Anakin growled, "My class mates are only six standard years old. I'm _nine_! They _are_ babies."

He took a stance on the floor, feet slightly spread and arms crossed tightly over his chest. His annoyance almost palpable. Obi-Wan did his best not to burst out in laughter. A couple of calming breaths later he was able to speak again.

"Anakin," he said softly, "come sit."

"Don't want to."

"Come here." Obi-Wan patted the couch on his left hand side.

Reluctantly Anakin entered the living room, annoyance still flooding from him.

"Why do you think you're put in a class with someone who's younger than yourself?"

"Dunno' "

"Well, for how long have you been living here?"

Anakin scowled: "Before or after Master Qui-Gon died?"

Obi-Wan felt a little stab in his heart, but concealed it well.

"Both, I'd say."

"Well, we were here for about two weeks before going to Naboo, and then we've been back for five days. That makes it (he counted his fingers) twenty days," he finished triumphantly.

"Right. And how long have your classmates been living here?"

"Oh…." Anakin hung his head slightly, "longer, I guess?"

"Right again. Most Jedi arrive before they reach the age of three standard years. That means that your class mates have been here for at least three years already. They are about learning the same basics as you, right now."

"But I will never get friends here if I'm supposed to be with babies."

Anakin wasn't one to give in so quickly.

"I promise you, you will get friends. And if you study hard these first months I'm sure you will surplus your class mates in no time and escalate to the next levels quickly. You are a bright boy and since you're more mature than them you will soon bypass them. I'm certain of that."

Anakin looked up at him, far less agitated now.

"Do you really think so, Master?"

"I'm certain."

Obi-Wan squeezed his protege's shoulder comfortingly.

….

The seventh day came of their first week as Master and Padawan came far quicker than any of them had expected, and Anakin woke to the lovely smell of…pancakes? In a moment he was out of his bed. Pancakes was something his mother had made on the very rare occasions when she'd managed to get all the needed ingredients.

"Mom,…I mean…Master, what are you doing?"

Obi-Wan watched his oh so young apprentice with an amused glimpse in his eyes.

"Good morning, Anakin. What do you believe I'm doing?"

"It seems like you are making pancakes?"

"A very good observation, young one. Why is it that it surprises you so much?"

"I thought…I thought…that only moms can do that. Make pancakes, I mean."

"Well, you're wrong in that assumption, I can assure you that I'm not your mother."

A shadow fell over Anakin's young face and Obi-Wan saw the change of mood in him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Anakin. I didn't mean it that way. I know you must miss your mother."

"I guess I do," Anakin answered hoarsely, "don't you miss yours? Not ever?"

"Anakin, like most other Jedi I never knew my mother. Most Jedi are given to the Order before they are three years old. I was even younger. I was given away when I was only a few days old. Or so I've been told."

Anakin's brow wrinkled in concern.

"Do you mean that you never met your parents? Not ever?"

"Not that I can remember, no," Obi-Wan assured. "I cannot remember anything else than growing up in my creche with my crechemates. They were almost like siblings to me."

"But why did your mother give you away so young?" Anakin asked. "Why didn't she want to keep you at all. Did you never wonder why? Did you ever think that she didn't like you?"

For a split moment Obi-Wan felt the old, well known feeling of being unwanted stab his heart, then he realized that Anakin was not intentionally trying to hurt him, he was merely curious.

"Actually I didn't think much about it when I was an initiate," he answered. "When I became a Padawan, my friends and I discussed our origin and that's when I realized that everyone else seemed to know something about their birth parents. But I didn't. So my Master and I tried to dig up some information about them, but we only found that I've been left at the stairs in front of the Temple when I was a few day's old. Later we discovered that my homeworld was a planet called Stewjon, but we never managed to find my birth family. Well, actually we didn't look for them either."

"I'm sorry," Anakin said quietly, "I didn't want to hurt you."

"It's OK, Anakin, really. I don't worry much about it. The Jedi _are_ my family, as they will become yours with time," he assured.

The stack of pancakes had slowly been growing while the two of them were talking and Anakin reached for the plates and drinking glass in the cupboard. When the first meal table was ready he looked upon his Master again.

"Master? You never really answered how you'd learned to cook?"

Obi-Wan chuckled softly.

"It was a necessity. Here, in the Temple, it's never a problem because we can always find something to eat in the refectory, but when out on a mission it's a necessity to be able to have some basic cooking skills. I learned that the hard way. Master Qui-Gon was a gifted Jedi, but he was never good at cooking. Sometimes I wonder if that was why he loved his tea so much, he couldn't make anything else. After the first mission together where preparing a meal was a necessity I realized that it would be a _very_ good idea to learn some basic cooking myself."

Anakin snickered.

"I should be safe then. I don't need to learn to cook, since you're a Master of pots and pans…"

A plate with a huge stack of pancakes levitated from the stove to the small table.

"…and for that comment, my very young Padawan, you are the one who will have to wash the dishes after first meal today. Teaching you how to cook can wait until another day."


	4. Chapter 4: Headaches

**Chapter 4: Headaches**

Obi-Wan Kenobi had a headache. For the umpteenth time since he became a master himself, or more precisely the Master of Anakin Skywalker, he wondered how in all the kriffin' nine sith hells it was even possible to develop a migraine from nowhere. He'd never had that before, but now it seemed to be a constant companion. For some reason this new acquaintance of his seemed to find the evenings to be a good time to visit.

He had felt a vague pressure behind his brow the very first day in the Temple when he and his shiny new Padawan (would he ever get used to the term 'my Padawan'?) entered the refectory and Anakin more or less broadcasted his feelings for the curious Jedi throughout the room. In that very moment he decided that one of the first things he had to teach his padawan was to shield his emotions.

It was easier said than done.

Anakin did not grab the concept at once.

"Why?" he demanded to know. "Why am I supposed to shield my emotions here? I know I had to back home because if Wattoo had noticed what I really thought about him he might have pushed the button and -booom- exploded me or mom. Jedi don't do that. Do they?"

"No, Anakin - they, I mean we, don't, but it's embarrassing for others to 'hear' what we are thinking all the time. That's why we shield."

"Embarrassing?" Anakin frowned, "why? It was embarrassing for you when they called you Sithkiller, wasn't it?"

Obi-Wan blushed slightly, he really hated…no, Jedi didn't hate….disliked the nickname. Disliked it very strongly actually."

"Well, yes…"

"I knew it. So when they embarrass you, why should we care about us embarrassing them?"

Obi-Wan sighed. Heavily

"It is _not_ the way it works. Besides, it was _you_ embarrassing them, not _me_ or _we."_

"That is not a good explanation," Anakin retorted.

"A jedi doesn't seek revenge and if that was your intention it would have been better if you had shielded."

"But it wasn't my intention. Not really. It just happened and I didn't like them staring at us as if we were back on the slave market, well I was there, not we because you haven't been there. Have you?"

The final part of the sentence was uttered with a slightly morbid interest.

"I have been to a slave market actually," Obi-Wan answered with all the Masterly dignity he could muster, "but I admit I don't know how it feels to be on…uh…the wrong side. However, Anakin, how would you like it if all these people were able to read your thoughts at all times, and you had no privacy what so ever?"

"I wouldn't like it," Anakin stated. "Back home we could sometimes hear everything the neighbors were doing and it was _awful._ "

"Exactly so. And they can. That's why you have to learn to shield. If you don't they can read every single thought you have. It would be even worse than living in a house with nothing but windows on all four walls."

Anakin contemplated the explanation for a while before looking up.

"Master Obi-Wan," he said with a pleading look,"can you teach me how to shield?"

…..

The next seizure of headache, and this time it was more than a mild pressure, came a few days later.

"Kenobi!"

Obi-Wan grabbed his comm link from the table where he was absolutely sure it had _not_ been the evening before. Somehow his very few belongings seemed to have gotten a life of their own and moved around by their own share will nowadays. Especially when Anakin was home.

"Master Kenobi," the unknown voice in the other end of the conversation said, "please come to the Students' Wing as soon as you can."

A very bad feeling hit his gut. (As if the beginning headache wasn't enough to handle.)

"Students' Wing? Is something wrong? Is it Anakin?"

"You may say that. I would appreciate if you could come here quickly."

And with that the call was ended. He managed the distance almost one minute quicker than last time he'd been called for.

Anakin was awaiting him in Master Sher'an's office. A blood stained rag rested in his left hand and traces of red beneath his nose indicated where the red spots originally came from. When he saw Obi-Wan he stood up.

"What is it this time?" Obi-Wan sighed exasperatedly.

"You may answer your Master, Anakin," Master Sher'an said calmly.

Anakin looked down. He obviously felt uncomfortable, but didn't say a word.

"Anakin…"

"OK, OK, I had a fight with Neela and he punched my nose, but I managed to give him a blue eye."

The last part was added with a very little jedi-like amount of satisfaction, and he looked up at his Master with a determined face expression.

"Well, the important question is _why_ you came into a fistfight with one of your classmates?"

"He is not my classmate. He's three years older than I and my classmates are ba… they are younger than me."

Obi-Wan recognized a diversion when he saw it, and realized that Anakin certainly not was in the mood of explaining what had happened and why, and he wondered why. Even though their partnership hadn't lasted long he had already understood that Anakin had a haughty temper, even though he usually was a kind and well meaning boy. He felt the now well known headache curling up from his neck and systematically working it's way forward.

He made a light bow towards Master Sher'an.

"Has he explained to you what happened?"

The Master shook his head. "No, he wouldn't tell. The other boy, Neela, has been taken care of by his own Master and I hoped you would be able to make Anakin tell what the reason was."

Anakin pursed his lips tightly while his eyes got a very determined expression. Obi-Wan's headache notched up one level.

"Anakin, please tell us what happened," he said.

"No!"

"Anakin…"

"No!"

Obi-Wan realized that the situation was at an impasse, at least for the moment. If he'd learned something about his Padawan during the last few weeks, it was that he was almost as stubborn as his own deceased Master had been. He gave the boy a stern glance.

"Very well, Anakin. We will discuss the matter when we get back home. After class. I take it you're not going to die from a bleeding nose and unless you can tell me you feel unwell, you will go back to class now and come directly home afterwards. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master," the boy mumbled and with a very strained movement he bowed first to Master Sher'an and then to his own master and left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind Anakin, Obi-Wan let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Master Sher'an. You have my word that I will get to the bottom of his behavior and ensure it will not happen again."

The other master looked at him and with a facial expression half way between a frown and a incredulous smile he nodded.

"Don't promise more than you can keep, Master Kenobi. I have a feeling that this will not be the last time your padawan visits my office."

Obi-Wan returned to their quarters, and for once he allowed himself to lay down and rest for a few minutes. He _really_ wanted to get rid of these headaches. Maybe some minutes of meditation and then a rest would help?

He woke by the sound of the door being opened, uncharacteristically silent. The sound of light steps moving towards Anakin's room revealed that the padawan rather not wake his master yet.

"Anakin?"

The steps came to a halt.

"Yes, Master?"

Obi-Wan sat up and looked at his Padawan.

"Come in here. Now."

Anakin shuffled inside, clearly not happy about the prospects for the next minutes to come.

"What happened earlier today, except the obvious, I mean?"

Anakin didn't move, nor did he meet his Master's stern glance.

"What. Happened." Obi-Wan didn't raise his voice, but the clipped pronunciation revealed that any attempts on not answering or even lying would be tolerated.

"We fought…"

Improvement. At least the boy said _something_.

"That much I have realized, but why?"

Anakin looked up, blue eyes shining suspiciously in his pale face.

"Neela said…he said…that you shouldn't have been knighted and that there was no way you could have killed a Sith. He said that you was…was…too soft because you like to read holobooks."

Obi-Wan's jaw dropped. He had expected almost anything except this.

"So, that was what he did. But that doesn't explain why you thought you had the right to fight him," he said.

"But Master, you _did_ kill the Sith. And you are _not_ soft."

"Anakin, sit down here. I want you to understand one thing. I really don't mind whether Neela think I am…soft… or not. If that is his opinion there is nothing you, or I, can do to change his mind - least of all beat him. If a Jedi fight, it should always be in selfdefense or to protect others, but…"

He realized his mistake before he even managed to finish the sentence. Anakin's head shot up.

"Right, and I defended you. Or rather your honor, Master."

The headache which had subsided after the nap came back with full force.

"I am fully capable of defending myself, my very young Padawan, but if I'm going to do so, it will be if you or I are in life threatening danger. Not because a twelve year old thinks I'm soft. By your actions you have set yourself and me in a rather embarrassing situation, and we will both have to take the consequences."

Anakin looked up: "How so?"

"Because we will have to go to visit Neela and his Master right away. When we get there, you will explain to them both what happened, and you will apologize for your rash behavior. And believe me, this will be more humiliating for me than Neela simply thinking I'm soft," Obi-Wan explained.

A tear trickled down the Padawan's cheek.

"I'm sorry, Master. it won't happen again," he whispered, and then with some more strength he added, "but if you're ever in life threatening danger I will do my best to fight for you."

…

It was late in the evening when the Master-Padawan duo entered their apartment again. Anakin was noticeably more subdued than he'd been earlier that day, and Obi-Wan's headache had increased to a heavy punching inside his temples.

"That was _not_ fun," Anakin sighed.

"It wasn't supposed to be," his Master retorted dryly, "hopefully Neely and you will come on better terms with each other after scrubbing the shower area of the initiates dojos for the next week. By hand! No droids."

"Yes, Master," Anakin sighed again, even deeper now, and retreated to his own room.

As soon as the door closed, Obi-Wan allowed himself a small smile. They had turned up on the other Master-Padawan pairs' doorstep and Neela had been quite embarrassed to see him there. So had his Master when he heard Anakin's explanation of why the fistfight had occured. His apologies on behalf of his Padawan had been almost comical to watch. But after the pleasantries had been exchanged the two masters had agreed that some common labor would be a suitable punishment for the two boys and the rest of the evening had actually been rather nice. Neela's master had invited them for a cup of tea and when the tea had been consumed the two boys were chatting eagerly about starships and flying.

There was hope after all.

And somehow his headache had diminished to almost nothing.


	5. Chapter 5: Bits and Pieces

**Chapter 5: Bits and Pieces**

"Anakin! What is this thing doing here? And while we're at it - what _is_ it?" Jedi Knight, some would say 'Master', Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice rang with a tune mid-way between exasperation, pain and for a keen ear: despair. This was the third time this week he had stepped on…well…something when he was on his way from the couch or the bedroom to the 'fresher. And every time he did so, said 'something' appeared to be equipped with sharp edges or corners, which made the meeting between foot and 'thing' an unpleasant experience.

Two bright blue eyes in a round face peeked out from the padawan's bedroom.

"I believe," the young person said, "it's the tail of a model starship. Actually it is a AEG-77 Vigo."

Obi-Wan scrutinized the debris with a keen eye.

"I believe you're right, but that doesn't answer my second question: What is it doing here on the floor and where does it come from?"

"You've made it, Master!"

"I what?"

"You've made it," the young voice was more certain now, "don't you remember? When we came home…I mean, when we moved in here…that is, when I inherited your old bedroom you said that I could keep some of your old spaceship models."

Obi-Wan nodded thoughtfully. Actually he _had_ offered Anakin to keep some of his own old models, being quite sure that they wouldn't really fit in in a Master's bedroom and somewhere, back in his mind - way back actually- a small insisting voice told him not to throw them away. After all he had spent many happy hours building them, sometimes while listening to his own Master's tales about space travels.

"I know I did that, but my assumption was that they should stay in your room, Anakin, not being spread out on the floor like this."

Anakin wouldn't be defeated so easily.

"If you were wearing your boots, it wouldn't hurt," he informed.

Obi-Wan sighed. Obviously this was going be another battle of wills with his young and quite headstrong Padawan.

"I shouldn't have to wear boots inside my own…our own…home. The floor should be barefoot safe at all times."

"Why?" Anakin demanded to know.

"You will realize why as soon as we start to go to missions," Obi-Wan explained. "Do you remember the marshland of Naboo? Where the Gungans live?"

Anakin nodded eagerly, hoping fervently that the mentioning of Naboo would lead to a tale that somehow involved Padmé. The hope was in vain.

"Well, that mission lasted only for a few days, but missions can be more long lasting…"

Obi-Wan's voice trailed off as his brain was lost in memories about a certain extended mission to Mandalore and several other planets.

"Master? Why do you get that weird expression in your face?"

His musings were mercilessly disturbed by his Padawan's voice.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just an old memory. What I was about to say was that missions may be long lasting and sometimes in uncomfortable places where we need to keep our boots on at any time. They are comfortable, but at home I like to have my feet get as much fresh air as possible.

Anakin scrunched his nose, and sniffed…

"Don't you even try that. I did go to the 'fresher this morning and I did not use only the sonic cleaner as someone else I know. My feet are perfectly clean, and besides I do wear socks."

This time it was Anakin's turn to object: "But Master, water is weird. That is something you drink. You don't waste it by soaking your body in it. And you said the sonic cleaner was a good substitute. You said so yourself…"

….

Obi-Wan's next encounter with Anakin's 'somethings' came three days later, when he actually had begun to believe the boy had understood that he should keep his belongings off the floor in the common room.

After consuming several mugs of silpa tea during a long evening where he tried to guide his Padawan through his assignments, he woke in the middle of the night and realized that the high consumption of tea just before bedtime as usual was not the best idea in the galaxy. He simply had to go to the 'fresher. Some bodily functions needed to be obeyed, jedi knight or not.

He never came that far.

Actually he came just two steps outside his bedroom, and thus just one step left to the 'fresher door, when a new 'something' caught up with him and pinched his right foot.

In pure astonishment he tumbled towards the opposite wall with a low 'thud'.

"Ow! What in the nine sith hells is that?"

He switched on the light with a slight movement of his hand. Right, frivolous use of the Force wasn't supposed to happen, but sometimes it could come in handy. As it did now.

The creature which had caused the pinch was definitely a mechanical 'something', but not like anything he had ever seen before. The body was oblong and less than a foot long, two rather large wheels was welded to it's rear part so it could clearly move quite freely, two smaller wheels could be seen in the front area - just below a pair of slightly scary claws which probably had given him the pinch.

He lifted up the small droid and scrutinized it further. It seemed to be made up from bits and pieces of…well…everything that could be found in a crate containing mechanical and electronic junk. Somehow the thing seemed to not like him because it clicked something that seemed most of all like a threat with it's small claws.

"Who, or rather what, are you?" he mused, "I have a pretty good idea where _you_ come from, but where did _he_ get the parts from?"

With a resolute movement identified the power switch on the belly of the droid and switched it off. A high pitched, rather annoyed, 'beep' was the last sound heard from the creature. Silently he brought it back to his room and stowed it away under his bed, hoping that it wasn't able to somehow switch the power back on by itself. He had already learned that his Padawan was a very skilled mechanics and had a feeling that the droid could have a couple of built in surprises.

The following night Obi-Wan stayed awake. Even though he preferred sleeping at night he was quite curious to find out where his Padawan got all the mechanical bits and pieces, so he intended to investigate just that.

A few minutes after midnight he heard a low hiss from the door to the padawan bedroom and the sound of two feet, obviously not wearing boots, shuffling over the floor. Then a new hiss from the entrance door.

The apartment was quiet.

Stealthily Obi-Wan left the apartment, shielding the best he could in the Force. He did not want Anakin to understand that he was being followed, at least not for the moment. Quietly he followed the Padawan down to the main level and then a couple of flights further down. Cautiously he peeked around a corner, just in time to see Anakin disappear into the laundry room.

"Oh!"

A sudden understanding struck him. The ventilation of the laundry room was probably going directly out into fresh air, or- as fresh as the city planet could make. A small boy like Anakin could probably sneak out quite easily from there, as long as he knew how to stop the rotating fans. He was sure a skilled mechanic like Anakin had figured out that days ago. As silent as he had arrived he turned around and chose a more conventional exit from the Temple. He'd had enough of climbing ventilation ducts as a Padawan… Doors were strongly preferred when he had an option.

His assumptions were right. As soon as he came out he descended a couple of flights just in time to see Anakin's small stature disappearing into a hooverlift going down.

Not good.

How would he know where Anakin decided to leave the lift? There were almost hundred levels before the actual planet surface was reached. Desperate times needed desperate measures and with a quick sprint he managed to open the doors to the shaft and jump down upon the roof of the hooverlift before it had descended to much.

Thank the Force, nothing broken. The moving compartment didn't even move too strongly when he landed.

Thirty some levels down the lift slowed down and stopped, and Anakin exited.

Fortunately nobody was waiting in line to take the lift to another destination so Obi-Wan managed to sneak out without being noticed. Again he was following in Anakin's wake. The boy was good, but this was a dangerous area. Carefully Obi-Wan checked that the lightsaber could be reached easily, just in case…

Then he saw it. A huge pile of junk was gathered in a square area, lit by some quite modest lights. He could see Anakin pulling a bag from inside his tunic and begin to pick pieces of junk from the pile, -pretty much like a maid shopping groceries on the market. He almost chuckled by the thought of how Anakin would react if he ever got to know that particular comparison.

From time to time he could see eyes glowing in the dark alleys around the square, but for some reason they, whoever or whatever they were, did not make any attempts to attack Anakin. Good for them.

Finally Anakin seemed to have filled his bag and he set off in the direction they had come from. Obi-Wan barely managed to disappear behind a corner to avoid being seen. He saw Anakin enter the hooverlift again, and cursed silently to himself. Jumping down upon a lift was one thing, jumping up was something quite different. He would have to find another lift and get back home as quick as possible. He really, really wanted to wait in the apartment when Anakin came back.

He barely managed it. He had snapped 'the thing' from under his bed and barely sat down in his favorite spot on the couch when the door opened quietly and Anakin entered, just as silently as when he left.

Obi-Wan rose and with a flicker of his hand he switched on the lights.

 _Qui-Gon would not have liked this. I'm getting used to frivolous use of the Force. This is the second time this week. I hope he would have understood that in this case it's a necessity_.

"Welcome back home, Anakin," he said plainly.

The boy's eyes seemed for a moment to transform into two big blue marbles.

"Ma…ma…master….?"

"You are aware that you are supposed to sleep at night? Preferably in your own bed?"

"I…I….yes, Master," Anakin's voice trailed off.

"And I presume you are already familiar with this little fellow?"

He pulled 'the thing' from behind his back. Anakin lit up.

"Oh. One C - there you are. I thought you had lost your way and disappeared from the apartment," he said.

"One C?"

"Yes. That's his name. He's the first droid I've made here on Coruscant so I named him One C . C stands for cockroach. When he's moving he resembles one. I used to make droids back home, at least I made one, and Threepio was beginning to function very well when I left so I decided to make a new one here for a new Threepio would be too big to store. They would never allow me to make one of those."

"But why?"

Anakin looked stubbornly at his Master. "I like making things and One C can pick things from the floor and get things and do all kinds of useful stuff, at least when he doesn't steal my models or tools or other things and pull them out here. I have to fine-tune his navigation skills a bit. He was supposed to collect things, not spread them out."

Obi-Wan was not so easily diverged.

"Anakin," he said softly, "I followed you tonight."

"Oh…"

"You headed for a level some thirty below here to find whatever you've got in your bag. You were observed by at least a dozen of the regular inhabitants down there, and you were extremely lucky that they didn't attack you. Those levels can be dangerous."

"But they didn't attack," Anakin stated triumphantly.

"That doesn't matter. They could have. And I am not so certain that you would have won that fight."

"But you were there, Master. You could have defeated them with your 'saber. I'm sure you could."

"I might," Obi-Wan agreed, "but fighting is not what we aim for. You were an intruder to their area and if I had been forced to fight them to defend you, what could that have made me?"

Anakin swallowed.

"Right," Obi-Wan continued, "that would have made me a killer. It's a tough life down there and even though they would not have been right to attack you, you were the intruder disturbing them. They might want to defend themselves and what little they have left down there. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Anakin's big blue eyes seemed suspiciously wet for a moment.

"I…I think so, Master. They are somehow slaves down there. They don't have a master, but they are slaves of the life they're living because in reality they cannot chose to live anywhere else…"

"Yes, that's right. So I want you to promise that you won't go down there alone again. Not ever. Or at least not until you have become a Senior Padawan."

"I promise, Master. But where shall i get my bits and pieces from then? We don't have any money on our own so I cannot buy stuff, and I cannot really steal it from the hangars either," he sighed.

A small impish smile spread over the young Master's features: "I said 'alone', Padawan. And that's a promise I want you to keep, but if you ask your old Master to follow you on an excursion every now and then, preferably in full daylight, the answer may very well be 'yes'."


	6. Chapter 6: Still Waters

**Chapter 6: Still Waters**

The Kenobi/Skywalker apartment was a calm place. Extremely calm. Actually it was far too calm for Obi-Wan's likings. He knew he shouldn't complain, because in the few months that had passed since his unplanned and swift elevation to the Master's ranks the apartment had been a whirlwind of…well, chaos. The source of the chaos, namely his own padawan, was lacking. And that was weird indeed. At this time of the day Anakin would normally have come running in half an hour ago (why did he never enter walking, like normal people?), screeching to a halt in front of the cooling unit to pick up a snack and disappeared into his own room for some quality time tinkering with his mechanical projects. His own toes still ached by the memory of 'One C', -the toe pinching droid Anakin was so proud of, but he realized that the mechanical inventions somehow comforted his padawan, especially since said padawan hadn't found any good friends yet.

Where in the galaxy had he disappeared? He really should have been home by now. For a split moment Obi-Wan hoped that Anakin had found a new best friend whom he was playing happily with after the last class of the day. Furthermore he hoped that it would last so that he every now and then could have some quiet moments in his own company knowing that Anakin was content and was using his unstoppable energy on something, no someone, else.

He was fairly certain that this was not the truth.

Running through the corridors yelling 'Anakin' from the top of his lungs wouldn't be a very masterly thing to do so he assumed he would have to try a more subtle method to try to find Anakin. He stretched out through the training bond and found nothing. Where Anakin's usually sparkling energy normally would appear, there was now a mass of something grey and dull and general 'unhappiness'. It was all very vague, but it was there.

"Blast it!" he muttered to himself, "I shouldn't have been so thorough when I taught him how to shield properly. He learned that lesson too well."

From what he could feel the shields that prevented him from reaching his padawan really were strong. But at least his padawan was there - somewhere. He just had to start looking. Whatever it was that was going on wouldn't be good. With a deep sigh he left the apartment to start his search.

Anakin was nowhere to be found. The refectory was full, but no small sandy haired nine-year old boy was to be seen. Same with the dojos, which admittedly took some time to search through. He hadn't expected his protege to be found in the creche, and a closer examination proved him to be right. He ended up in the Teaching Wing of the Temple, which would have been a wiser place to begin the search now that he was thinking about it. Well, he most certainly had a lot to learn about being a Master.

His apprentice was nowhere to be found, which again was according to his suspicions, but that didn't matter. He went directly to the planning desk. The old master in charge looked up at him, quizzically.

"How can I help you, Master Kenobi?"

"I'm looking for my Padawan, Master Geobok," Obi-Wan explained, "his name is Anakin Skywalker and he didn't come home after classes so I wonder where he went off to."

"Ah, young Skywalker…" the older Master nodded, "his class in basic astrophysics was cancelled. The Master who is teaching the class has got the flu, so instead the students were sent to the pool for a swimming class."

Obi-Wan froze. A very bad feeling nudged his mind.

 _Oh, Force, I didn't see this coming at all. They shouldn't have had swimming training at all in this cycle. Anakin is from a desert planet and he is hardly used to any water at all, except for drinking. And barely so. He never uses the water shower if he can avoid it. He only steps into the sonic one. He must have been terrified._

"Where is he?" he asked.

"Well, I heard his teacher say that one of the students had ran off from class, and never came back. That might have been your padawan. He himself had to stay behind with the rest of the younglings."

"So, you actually tell me that my padawan ran away from the class and nobody even thought about informing me of the matter," Obi-Wan said in a terrifying low voice. "I will find him myself, _thank you very much_."

It took him several hours more to actually fulfill his promise. After searching the lower parts of the temple he finally felt a familiar tug in the training bond from the reactor creating heat for the entire Jedi Temple. Well hidden behind a hot heat transformer a small figure sat hunched together on the floor, wearing only swim shorts. Nothing more. His face was grimed by tears and dust when he looked upon his Master.

Obi-Wan instinctively sad down beside him.

"Anakin…?"

"I'm not going back. I'm absolutely not going there again," the boy shot his chin forward with an all too familiar stubborn expression in his face.

"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked plainly.

The boy sniffed and wiped his already red-rimmed eyes.

"They laughed of me because I cannot swim… and I wouldn't let them. And I couldn't fight them because they were already in the water and I…couldn't go there. So I just left."

"Why didn't you come home?" Obi-Wan asked softly and laid an arm over the boy's slim shoulders.

"I…I couldn't. I was in a hurry to get away before I got really, really mad and I couldn't run through The Grand Hall in…in this," he gestured towards himself, "so I took the stairs and ended up here. "

"Well, at least you found a warm place," Obi-Wan wiped a thin layer of sweat from his brow. "But you cannot stay here forever, so come with me now. We need to go home."

"No!" Anakin was determined now.

"Yes, you will," Obi-Wan stated. "Here, take my cloak and if we meet someone I will carry you. They will most likely believe you have hurt your foot or something."

Anakin nodded reluctantly: "Well, I _am_ hungry…"

….

The dinner that evening was a quiet meal, which they ate in their apartment. While they ate Obi-Wan questioned his Padawan further.

"You are aware you will have to learn to swim, Padawan?" he asked.

Anakin snapped back in his defiant position. Arms crossed over his chest.

"No, won't do it."

"You will have to, " Obi-Wan repeated calmly. "What would you do if you were sent on a mission to one of the water planets, such as Glee Anselm? Walk on water?"

"I could stay in my ship," Anakin retorted hopefully.

"You couldn't do that forever. There will be multiple occasions where you'll have to swim."

A somber silence gathered around the boy.

"But all of them can swim already. And I cannot…"

"I know," Obi-Wan sighed, " after all you are from a desert planet so where would you have had the chance to learn? But that doesn't mean I can allow it to continue."

…

The Jedi Temple was quiet and radiated peace in the middle of the night. If anyone were awake they were not out in the corridors and thus the two figures, one small and one larger, who stealthily moved through the halls towards the pool area managed to remain unseen by human (and other species' eyes). Deliberately they aimed for the pool farthest away from the entrance.

Obi-Wan slid quietly into the pool. Anakin stayed behind on the edge.

"Come down, Anakin, I'm here to catch you and it is not deep."

Anakin looked suspiciously down on his Master and realized he had a point. The water only reached Obi-Wan to his waist and he was not an overly tall man, so Anakin could easily stand on the bottom of the pool and still keep his head above water.

"But Master, it's so…wet," he protested.

"I know," Obi-Wan confirmed, "that's one of the things with water. It is supposed to be wet."

The silence between the two hung thick in the humid air.

"We agreed upon doing this," Obi-Wan reminded his Padawan mildly. "If you don't want to slide into the water like I did, use the stairs."

Anakin swallowed hard and nodded.

A little while later he stood in the water, alternating casting skeptical glances to his Master and to the water.

"What if there's something in it?" he asked shakily, "I mean big fishes or something."

Obi-Wan stifled a laugh, and refrained wisely from quoting Qui-Gon's saying about 'there's always a bigger fish'. It would probably not be a good idea feeding Anakin's imagination with that right now.

"I promise you, Anakin, there are no fishes here," he said, "the water in the pools is recycled, cleaned and disinfected. Neither fishes nor bugs will survive the cleaning process. Now, please do look at me…"

And with that he leaned back and let the water carry him. Anakin watched with large round eyes.

"Wizard, the water is _carrying_ you, " he exclaimed.

"Right, and it will carry you too," Obi-Wan explained. "You just have to trust it."

Anakin frowned. Admiring the water's ability of carrying his Master was one thing, trusting it to carry himself was something entirely else.

"I will hold you if the physics should fail," Obi-Wan promised. "I will put my hand behind your neck and now you can lean back and float."

"You certain, Master?" Anakin asked shakily, "you won't let me down? Literally…"

"I won't. You are perfectly safe," Obi-Wan assured him.

Slowly the padawan laid back and as his feet lifted from the floor Obi-Wan could see the anxious expression in his face change into something that best could be described as marveling.

"It's really true, Master. I'm _flying!_! "

"Technically it's floating," his Master corrected solemnly, "but you're right. It feels like being weightless and thus we may consider it as flying, sort of."

The lesson continued and before one hour had passed Anakin had overcome most of his fear of the water and he was even able to swim 2-3 strokes. Neither he, nor Obi-Wan heard the entrance door open, and the intruder was certainly hiding his force presence very well.

"What are the two of you doing here at this time of the day, uh…night?" Mace Windu's deep voice droned through the silent room.

Obi-Wan looked up and saw the Master of the Order standing on the edge of the pool, looking sternly down at them.

"I…we…I am teaching Anakin how to swim," he stuttered.

"So I can see," Mace Windu replied dryly. "But why do you do it _now_? After living in this Temple for the last 25 years, you should really know that the pool area is closed after 22th hour."

"Well, since Anakin doesn't have very much experience with water, I thought it best to be a bit discreet when we were working on the initial lessons," he explained truthfully, "you know how kids can be. Besides, it's important that Anakin catches up with his peers as quickly as possible."

The Master of the Order nodded: "The explanation is accepted. However, I would recommend you to keep your….bathing sessions to a more normal time of the day, Master Kenobi. The rules are valid for all of you. I suggest you both leave the pool area now. And I mean _now._ "

"Yes, Master Windu," Obi-Wan confirmed sheepishly.

The tall Korun Master quickly turned and began to walk towards the exit, expertly hiding the small smile that threatened to form in his face.

Behind him a wave of water rose from the still water as if lifted by an invisible hand, and splashed down over the pair still in the pool.

"Now, Kenobi. Now!"


	7. Chapter 7: Celebration

**Chapter 7: Celebration**

Obi-Wan Kenobi was at loss. Throughout the last months he had handled a sad padawan, a lonely padawan, a mischievous padawan (too often) and sometimes even a disappeared padawan. He had (unfortunately) at some occasions also had to handle an angry padawan, but those incidents were less frequent now. What he hadn't yet experienced was a quiet padawan.

Until now.

It had started two days ago when Anakin had come home after classes and a miracle had happened: the boy had entered their apartment _walking_ , not running. Under normal circumstances Obi-Wan would have been overjoyed, but as the behaviour was followed by a un-Anakin'ish silence where all his questions were fended off like water droplets hitting a Kaminoan leaf plant he felt less and less happy. It was like the boy had been transformed into a questionrepellent substance.

It was worrisome, to say the least.

The following day the unusual quiet behaviour continued. At first meal Anakin just looked at him over the table with huge puppy eyes, looking every bit a forlorn akkdog pup. Puppy eyes and Anakin was just a totally wrong combination which made small chills run down Obi-Wan's spine. The only time he had seen something like that was the one time Anakin had wanted an extra serving of ice-cream in the refectory. And now the padawan just stirred the contents of his cereal bowl and sipped some muja juice before leaving, so he concluded that 'food' was not the issue right now.

It was a mystery. And at that one which needed to be solved, quickly.

 _I cannot fathom what's wrong with him. Every time I ask him what's the matter he just look at me with those big blue eyes and answers 'nothing Master'. I could of course pull rank on him and command him to tell me what's going on but if so I guess I would kill the growing trust he has in me for a long time, so that's not really an option. Yesterday I asked his teacher if he knew about something that was bothering Anakin, but the answer was negative. Actually he has begun, well maybe not befriending his classmates but at least he's coming to terms with them and they speak to him - and vice versa. So things seem to be going better. He's even got something that resembles a friend, his teacher said. Since he's excelled so quickly in his mechanics class he was moved to a group with more of his age mates and he seems to be on good terms with this Teevan boy called Tru Veld… Now, wait a minute. I may have my solution there._

And with that Obi-Wan left the apartment.

He found Tru Veld outside the dojos where the boy had just finished his 'Ligthsaber for beginners' class, and nodded politely.

"Good morning. I presume you are Anakin's friend, Tru Veld?" he asked gently.

"Uh, well, yes, Master Kenobi. We have been talking together during the mechanics class. Anakin has made a droid and I was allowed to test my programming with it. It worked quite well, at least until the program went into a loop and we had to hunt down the droid which tried to escape out the window."

The boy snickered by the memory of the mess the droid had created in the workshop.

"That sounds like a real Anakin-project," Obi-Wan nodded.

"Is Anakin in trouble?" Tru asked.

"Not that I know of," Obi-Wan answered sincerely. "Actually I was hoping you could help me to find out if anything is wrong. For the last couple of days Anakin has been more…quiet than I'm used to, and he won't tell me what's wrong."

Tru bit his lower lip, contemplating the Master's word.

"No, I'm sorry Master Kenobi, I cannot think of anything. Except from the droid incident I don't know about anything out of the ordinary. And even that shouldn't mean trouble. Actually Master Grreind had a good laugh. He said it wasn't the first time a student's project went wild."

Obi-Wan sighed. He'd had a small hope that Tru Veld could help him discover the background for Anakin's uncharacteristic behaviour but it seemed like the hope was in vain.

"Thank you for your time, Initiate Veld. You have been most helpful," he said with a light bow which made the initiate blush slightly, and turned to leave the way he had come. He didn't come far. He was just about to enter the galley overlooking the Grand Hall when he heard quick footsteps behind him.

"Master Kenobi?"

He turned and saw a slightly nervous Tru Veld catching up with him.

"Yes, Initiate?"

"I…I'm not sure….I mean…I came to think of something, but it may not be important," Tru said shyly.

"Whatever it is, I'm glad to hear what you have to say," Obi-Wan assured him.

"Well, I just came to think about that two days ago, when we were cleaning up the workshop after the droid incident Initiate Ylan mentioned that she had her lifeday the very same day. And then Anakin became quiet and afterwards he told me that in three days it would be his lifeday and that his mother always had made a cake for his lifeday and that his friends had visited him in the evening."

"Three days , you said? That means that Anakin's lifeday is tomorrow?" Obi-Wan said.

"Yes, Master Kenobi. Didn't you know?"

"No, I'm afraid I didn't. We've never talked about those things before. I didn't think about it."

"Oh…"

Obi-Wan stroke his chin pensively.

"I assume I have to make up for my ignorance somehow," he said thoughtfully. "I keep forgetting that Anakin has a different background than most jedi. Such a thing as a lifeday may mean more to him than it does to those who grew up in the creche. I wonder…Tru, you and Anakin seem to get along quite well. Would you like to step by for a small 'celebration' tomorrow at 18th hour? I cannot promise a big party, but at least there would be some cake."

He grinned: "After all cake seldom fails when it comes to growing boys."

….

The following day Obi-Wan went into 'busy mode' as soon as Anakin had left for classes, even more quiet and subdued than he'd been the last days. His first stop was down in the hangar where he managed to persuade the Hangar Chief to give him a small tool kit. He knew that Anakin was well known there and when he told that Anakin might need some tools for all his tinkering projects the Chief grinned and gave him a small, almost new, toolkit.

"I may need the boy's advice sometime. He's a natural born genius when it comes to mechanical parts," he grinned.

His next stop was "Dex's".

"Three Bantha Burgers with fried tubers," he ordered, "and make them so they can be heated easily in the microwave."

Dex' rumbling laughter followed the serving: "Don't tell me that you jedi have begun living on takeaway. Or rather do tell me if it's so, then I would have my income secured for the rest of my lifetime."

Obi-Wan shook his head, smiling: "No, I'm sorry to say that this will not be a habit, but my young Padawan and I have something to celebrate tonight and even jedi need food."

The third part of his errands implicated the purchase of Ophuchian choc, some flour and sweet roots from Verroth and for good measure some sweet karea milk. If he only could find the recipe for the choc cake which had been Tahl's trademark for celebrations it would be a nice dessert.

To avoid Anakin coming home too early he'd met him after class and gone directly to a dojo for some basic lightsaber training while the cake was cooling down. The bantha burgers were waiting in the cooling unit and now he just needed to keep Anakin occupied until 18th hour. He succeeded and noticed that the 'saber training had made Anakin brighten up considerably so ten minutes before the 18th hour he ordered Anakin to take a shower ("No, Anakin, I do not want you coming in smelling like a Wampa on Tatooine") and hurried home to get the food ready.

He'd barely managed to get the burgers ready before Tru Veld chimed the doorbell and a few minutes later Anakin came in, just as quietly as he'd done for the last couple of days. The boy stopped abruptly, eyes huge from confusion.

"What's this? Tru, what are you doing here? Are we in trouble for something I don't even know about?"

Tru shook his head: "No!"

"But…what's up, then?"

Obi-Wan could see a faint hope shining in his Padawan's eyes.

"Happy lifeday, Padawan," he said, and pulled the tool kit from behind his back and handed it over to Anakin.

Anakin's face transformed into an astonished mien, his mouth forming an almost perfect 'o' in surprise.

"But…Master…I…how did you know. And why. I mean…jedi don't celebrate lifedays, do they. I mean - do we?"

"We don't," Obi-Wan confirmed, "but there is no jedi rule against eating and having a good time with friends. Come sit, boys. We need to dig into the burgers before they turn cold."

And with that they went into action. As if by a miracle Anakin's appetite had returned and the burgers were soon consumed, in-between eager chatting about katas and electronics.

The boys' eyes got even bigger and rounder by the sight of the cake.

"Master, did you really make this one by yourself?" Anakin asked incredulously.

Obi-Wan nodded. "I did. I learned it from…an old friend many years ago. She served it to me when I was a fresh Padawan, so I found it quite suitable to serve it tonight."

…

The door had closed after Tru and Anakin and Obi-Wan were once more alone in the apartment. The dishes had been washed and put back in the cupboard and the remaining of the cake safely placed in the cooling unit.

"Thank you, Master," Anakin said quietly, "I was a bit scared of this day because I miss mom and my friends back home. I didn't even know that you knew about my lifeday. And thank you so much for the toolkit too. I didn't want to mention it 'cause jedi don't celebrate and I want to be a jedi."

"You're very welcome, Padawan," Obi-Wan said. "Even though jedi aren't the best at celebrating, it doesn't mean that we can't do it every once in a while. I'm sure the Force doesn't mind us having nice evenings with friends."

"Am I your friend, Master?"

"Yes, Padawan. You're both my apprentice and my friend," Obi-Wan answered, and somewhere deep inside he knew that somewhere along the way through the last challenging months that had become the truth.


	8. Chapter 8: The First Mission

**Chapter 8: The First Mission**

"Anakin!"

"Anakin!"

Obi-Wan Kenobi was as close to shouting as his calm and quiet personality allowed when he entered the doors to their apartment, and a blond spiky head peeked out the door to the right.

"Stars, Master. What is going on? You're being louder than Jira when a storm was coming in."

Anakin had stepped out from his room and stood in front of his Master, both legs planted firmly on the floor and arms crossed over his chest. The sight would have made Obi-Wan laugh if he hadn't been in such a hurry.

"Pull on your boots and come with me. We shall meet before the Council as soon as possible."

Anakin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Before the Council? Now? Why? I haven't done anything recently…" His voice trailed off.

"No, you haven't. And neither have I," his Master answered. "Come now. Hurry. Where's your other boot?"

They found the forlorn boot just inside the 'fresher door. Obi-Wan didn't even want to know how or why it had ended up there. Certain things were best forgotten.

Shortly after they stood in front of the High Council and bowed in unison.

"Master Kenobi," Master Windu intoned,"for about 8 months now you and your Padawan have been staying in the Temple, as you have been given time to adapt to the Temples routines and each other. The Council has now deemed you clear for going on light missions and we have one now that may be suitable as a first mission for the two of you."

Obi-Wan could almost feel an enthusiastic 'Wizard' coming through the training bond from his Padawan.

"If the Council have a mission for us, we are ready to go," he said formally.

"Good," Master Windu said, "the mission is going to be a purely diplomatic mission. You are going to the planet of Lazerian IV. The Kingdom of Devit is celebrating it's centennial anniversary after becoming a kingdom and as Jedi were present when the kingdom was re-established after years of civil war, the Order has been invited to send representatives."

Obi-Wan bowed again: "We accept the mission, but why us? Wouldn't it have been more natural to send a couple of older Jedi?"

A frown flew over Mace Windu's face.

"Well, actually we had assigned this mission to the Knights Mithrial and Aroon, but as Knight Aroon is confined to the Healer's Ward with a bruised ankle and Knight Mithrial simultaneously got a nasty stomach flu, we had to find a reserve."

Obi-Wan and Anakin bowed again and left the Council Chamber. The doors had barely closed behind them before a waterfall of questions poured out of Anakin's mouth.

"Wizard! I'm going on my first mission. I mean we are… But why us, Master? They could have found someone else still. But I'm glad they didn't. Can I pilot the ship when we're going there? Can I? How long will it take to get there? And will we have to stay long? Will there be a huge party and lot's of food?"

"Whoa…stop…wait…you are allowed to breathe, Padawan," Obi-Wan admonished his charge. "I have no idea why we were chosen for this particular task, we will see about piloting when we're in open space and I believe the journey will take a couple of days, but I will leave to you to make that calculation this evening. And, yes, I assume a party and food will be involved, and you will behave like a well-behaved Padawan and taste some of the food in an extremely polite manner."

Anakin frowned. He could accept 'polite' but taking it to the extreme when nice food was involved was a completely different matter.

Obi-Wan chuckled.

"Come on, let's get home. We have information about the mission waiting on our reading pads and you have a calculation to do before we call it a day."

….

Lazerian IV was a truly beautiful planet, especially seen from orbit. Green plains and not overly tall mountain ranges were patched with green lush forests. Up close it was less green as the City of Devit was highly industrialised. It seemed clean and well organised but on the other hand it was somehow dull and grey.

"It looked better from above," Anakin grumbled as he descended the ramp one step behind and to the right of Obi-Wan.

"Shhh, Anakin. Manners. Behave yourself."

"But they can't hear us yet!"

"Behave!"

The two Jedi stopped in front of two officials who stood by the end of the ramp.

"Welcome to our capital city," the taller of them said. "I am Gelan and this is Moran. We will be at your service during your stay."

Obi-Wan sensed that his Padawan was about to burst in laugher and gave him a nudge through their training bond ('behave'), before giving a polite bow to the two liaisons.

"It's a pleasure to be here and the Jedi Order is grateful for your invitation," he said. "I am Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and this is my Padawan, my apprentice, Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin stifled his laughter and gave his best Padawan-bow.

"Pleased to meet you both," Gelan said. "We will show you to the guest house where you will stay tonight. Tomorrow you will meet the King and be among his guests of honour when the parade is passing by the Castle. Later that evening there will be a formal dinner where you will be sitting at the main table with the King. After the fireworks at midnight tomorrow you are welcome to stay as long as you wish without any formal obligations."

Obi-Wan bowed again.

"There is really a lot of bowing present in these diplomatic missions," Anakin thought with the mental equivalent to a sigh.

Their rooms were magnificent. They had been giving a large suite with two adjacent bedrooms. A common living room occupied the area outside their bedrooms and they found a small dining table set for two.

"We assumed you would like something to eat, and maybe rest after your long journey. We will meet you here at 9th hour tomorrow," Moran said, and Anakin did his best to keep a serene expression on his face. As soon as the door closed behind the two liaisons he burst out with the long time suppressed laughter.

"Padawan, "Obi-Wan admonished. "What is it?"

"He…his….did he really say that his name was Moron? " Anakin hiccuped.

Obi-Wan glanced at him in shocked silence for a moment and then he burst into a laughter too.

"No. Absolutely not. His name is _Moran_ , with an A not an O," he explained when he was able to talk again. "Was that the reason why you almost were exploding behind me on our way into the city?"

Anakin nodded, slightly ashamed: "Yes…"

"We really have to improve your diplomatic skills," Obi-Wan sighed. "Laughing at people is _really_ not very diplomatic."

…

They were picked up at ninth hour as promised. Both Jedi had brought a set of new clothes to be worn during the ceremony and the following dinner, and were dressed in their finest clothing. By joining mutual forces and with the help of comb and water they had even managed to get Anakin's hair tamed so he was the image of a Perfect Padawan when they entered the balcony.

They both bowed deeply for the King.

"It's a pleasure to have you here," he intoned, "it was by the help of the Jedi that the Kingdom of Devit was reestablished a century ago, and thus it is a great honour to have some of your kind here with us today."

"The Jedi Order was honoured by your invitation, your Majesty," Obi-Wan said smoothly, casting a warning glance to his Padawan. The glance gave a very clear message: Do NOT comment on his 'your kind' comment.

And from that minute on the day went in a dignified and organised whirlwind.

Anakin did not contribute to the 'dignified' part…

It began during the main parade.

"Master, look at those costumes!" he exclaimed when the first riders passed by the balcony where the King stood waving down to the cheering crowd below.

"It is NOT costumes, Anakin. It's ceremonial clothing from a century ago."

"That's basically what I said, Master. It's costumes."

"Anakin, shhhh…."

The next scene from the parade turned out to be on the verge of a diplomatic catastrophe.

"Master! They are in chains. Do these people have _slaves_?"

"They are not slaves, Anakin."

"But they are in chains. We have to free them. You can do it, Master. I know you can."

The King cast a very disapproving glance at Anakin, and then turned his focus towards the parade again.

"They are not slaves. They are _actors_ hired to play prisoners."

Anakin looked suspiciously at his Master. "Are you sure, Master?"

"I am. Did you not read the briefing document on your pad before we arrived?"

Anakin pursed his lips and shook his head, slightly ashamed, but his subdued mien didn't last long.

"Master! There are Jedi. Why are we here when there already were Jedi here?"

"Anakin, they are actors too!"

By the end of the parade Obi-Wan felt his migraine rising, stronger than it had been in several months. He had a feeling that this would be one of the longest days in his life. He'd been to enough similar events in his own time as Padawan to know that it would be an exhausting day, but as the hours passed by he realised that not preparing Anakin for the long waiting time had been a huge mistake. The first hour he had to tolerate Anakin's questions, but as the hours passed by he could see his Padawan becoming utterly restless and was almost bouncing on his toes.

"Master…I have to…I have to go to the 'fresher."

"Not now, Anakin."

"But I really, really have to."

"Be quick then."

The parade finally ended with a lot of happy children representing the celebration of the peace and the restoration of the monarchy.

"Ooooh, they are so happy," Anakin beamed. This time Obi-Wan did not find it worth mentioning that the children played their roles in the parade too.

They got a couple of hours break before the dinner began.

When the procession entered the dining hall they were three steps behind the King and Queen, one on each side. As they sat down by the table Obi-Wan relaxed slightly. Hopefully nothing could go wrong during the dinner. Anakin enjoyed food so the only thing that might go wrong was probably that he would eat too much, and the effects of that was something they would have to deal with after the dinner was over.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

The first dish was served and Anakin scrunched his nose.

"Master," he whispered, "we cannot eat this. I cannot eat this…"

"Behave, Anakin, at least you have to eat some of it."

"But it's raw!"

"Many people eat raw meat, it's tasty. Try it,"

Obi-Wan took a bite and silently agreed with Anakin. The taste was really something…different. He cast a glance around the table and saw the other guests digging in with good appetite so he decided to copy their behaviour. Anakin didn't. His plate was still untouched when the waiter came to remove it.

The next dish was obviously based on some kind of fish. It almost seemed like jelly on the plate and Obi-Wan concluded that Anakin actually had a point. This was hardly food for human beings.

Anakin's plate remained untouched.

"Master Kenobi, your young apprentice does not like our food, no?" the Queen asked.

"Your Majesty, I must admit he's young still and he has not refined his taste yet," Obi-Wan answered politely, well aware of Anakin glaring daggers at him.

The Queen nodded knowingly.

"Such are children," she declared, "Waiter, serve the child something more suitable."

And with that Anakin was saved from further culinary explorations.

Obi-Wan was less lucky. He had been trained to eat various dishes from his early days as Padawan. So that's what he did. The fermented meat in the main course tasted like something that had been fetched from a garbage dump. The bouillon served in-between the starter and the main dish could easily be compared to waste water. Actually, if given a choice he might have preferred the waste water. And the dessert wasn't much better. He loved sweets and liked fruits, but the unknown fruit had a remarkably resemblance to something rotten. The sauce that accompanied it surely had to be based on sour…something.

By the end of the meal he felt slightly queasy.

By the time they had bid the King and Queen politely farewell he felt rather…sick.

By the time they entered their suite he was longing for the 'fresher facilities. And that was basically where he spent most of the night.

When morning dawned he didn't feel much better. Actually he had't felt that bad since he had the Corellian flu at the age of fifteen.

"Let's get back home as soon as we can, Anakin," he said weakly.

"Are you still feeling ill, Master?" Anakin asked with a concerned look in his eyes. "Maybe we should ask for a healer?"

"No!" Obi-Wan said more brusquely than intended, "When they serve food like that, Force alone knows how their healers will be."

"Master!" Anakin admonished.

By the time they were in their ship, Obi-Wan had achieved a slightly green complexion, admittedly not a good match to his light copper red hair.

By the time they left orbit his greenish colour had been accompanied by cold sweat and shivers.

"Master, are you sure you will manage flying home?" Anakin asked in an anxious voice.

"Of course, Padawan. I feel fine, just a little queasy after yesterday's slightly…unaccustomed food," Obi-Wan said with more certainty than he really felt.

"But Master, you are really, really green…"

"I'm not. I may be a little pale though. I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Master, if you want to lay down for a little while I can supervise the autopilot," Anakin said eagerly. "Please Master, you really don't look too good right now."

"Oh, well… If you're absolutely certain I may find a bunk and lay down for a little while. I'm not going to sleep though, so please alarm me if something unusual happens."

"I will, Master," Anakin promised and sat proudly down behind the controls.

By the time they were well into hyperspace, Obi-Wan was asleep.

Anakin checked that he was still breathing. Truth be told he felt a bit worried about his Master's condition."

By the time they approached Coruscanti orbit, Obi-Wan was deeply unconscious.


	9. Chapter 9: Returning

**Chapter 9: Returning**

The small ship shot out of hyperspace and entered Coruscanti orbit. It's minuscule pilot was working frantically with buttons and switches. He wasn't too worried about piloting the ship or the approaching landing. No, the real problem was Coruscant Space Control and the steadily increasing traffic. He _could_ fly the supersize can. And he was almost sure he could get it down in one piece too, if just the ships surrounding him could _stay away._

"Incoming ship TCL342-684C to Space Control," he sent, "my Master is very ill and I need clear route to the Jedi Temple. Please confirm."

The communication on the ship crackled to life.

"Get off the comm unit, kid. We have work do to and any disturbances may endanger the traffic."

"This is TCL342-684C. I have a very ill person on board. I need free way to the Jedi Temple," Anakin tried again, "there is much traffic in that direction and I'm not used to this ship so I could really need some more space."

"Get away from the comm. This is an official channel for Coruscant Space Control and communication is restricted to messages related to inbound ships only."

"But I _am_ an inbound ship," Anakin muttered, "kriffin' stupid nerfheads."

"What?"

"Requesting free lane for incoming vessel TCL342-684C to the Jedi Temple," he tried for the third time.

"Get away from the comm, boy!" The voice from the control centre was getting increasingly impatient now. So was Anakin.

"Well, if I have to do this the difficult way," he growled, "so be it."

And with that he switched off the entire comm unit. He assumed there would be a lot of noise when he began zigzagging among the other ships in the air above Coruscant and he really didn't want to be disturbed.

"Hang on there, Master, we're going in and I'm gonna get you home alive, but it may be a bit bumpy."

It wouldn't be so bad really. It would be Bontha Eve all over again, but instead of a maneuverable pod he would have a large, well relatively large ship, to manoeuvre and instead of the canyon walls he would have to avoid other ships which also were moving.

Well, the principle was the same. Find the goal and avoid the hindrances. Easy as that. He swallowed hard and focused on the spot where he knew the Jedi Temple would be.

"Use your feelings, Anakin."

He almost jumped in the seat when he heard the deep baritone voice of Qui-Gon Jinn in his ear and for a moment he felt the comfort of having an older, more experienced Jedi by his side, and then he realised that Master Qui-Gon was dead so there was no way he could be in the cockpit and what he'd heard was a memory of the admonishments from Bontha Eve. He dived into the busy traffic lanes above the city planet.

He reached the Temple without any mishaps. It had been a couple of close encounters and very abrupt turns and twists, and he assumed that the droid in charge of the Jedi's maintenance department would be less than happy about the slightly crumbled plates in the stern of the ship. That hulk of a transport ship had too high speed for such low altitudes anyway. But the hull had withstood the pressure and was still intact. Basically.

The ship screeched to a halt at docking pod 39z in hangar 3, and Anakin jumped out, leaving several confused maintenance droids in his wake. He wasn't totally sure of where to go, but while running he decided that the Healer's Wing would be his best bet. Master Obi-Wan needed help _now._

Master Healer Shan was on duty when Anakin burst in through the double doors of the Healer's Wing.

"Hello, young one. What's your emergency?" he asked gently.

"My Master…" Anakin panted, "my Master is terribly, terribly ill and I'm afraid he's dying. Help him. Now! Please."

Healer Shan grabbed a commlink and commanded : "Show me."

So they ran. In the opposite direction of the one Anakin had just come from.

"Who is your Master and what has happened?" he asked, while running through the Temple Halls.

"It's Master Obi-Wan. And he's very very sick. I suggested he should see the healers on Lazerian IV before we left 'cause he'd been puking all night, but he wouldn't go and said he was just fine, so I couldn't force him and then he became more and more sick and he fell asleep while we were in hyperspace and I didn't know what to do so I just wanted to go home. So we came right here."

The explanation was given almost without breathing but Shan believed he'd got the essence.

"Obi-Wan as in Obi-Wan Kenobi?" he asked as they were heading up the landing ramp of the ship.

"Yep," Anakin confirmed. "Hurry Master, he's in the bunk bed behind that door."

Obi-Wan was not in the bunkbed. He was beside it. Anakin's evasive manoeuvres on his way through the traffic lanes had thrown him off the bed and down upon the floor. His breathing was weak, almost inaudible, and some droplets of blood had trickled from his right temple. Obviously his meeting with the floor had been unkind.

Shan bent down and checked for breathing and pulse. The pulse was sky high for a human, but yet his skin was terrifyingly pale.

"Send two padawans with a hooverstretch to hangar 3," Shan ordered through his commlink. "I have a very ill patient here."

"Where is the pilot, young one? You must have had company here?"

"I'm the pilot," Anakin stated and for a moment his pride shone through his worries for his Master. "I took her in. Space Control wasn't very helpful so I had to do everything by myself."

Master Shan raised a quizzical eyebrow but in the same moment the two padawans from the Healers Ward entered the hangar.

"Over here. This ship," he shouted.

….

The Healer's Ward was one of the places in the Temple which Obi-Wan really despised. Even as a youngling he had almost panicked whenever the place was even mentioned. Right now he didn't mind. If he had been conscious he most certainly would. Admittedly he was confined to a bed, which was an improvement from the ship's cold and unforgiving floor, but thin tubes were channeling strange liquids to and fro his body. Obi-Wan didn't like to be perforated.

Anakin didn't like him to be either.

Master didn't look like…well…Master.

He should be calm and reserved and dignified, and yet have a twinkle in his eyes and be strong and sometimes sarcastic and sometimes just a friend.

There were nothing dignified by the tubes. Nor were there any twinkling eyes. Master was eerily pale and still, as he had been ever since they were in hyperspace.

"Padawan Skywalker," a voice sounded behind him, "you should go home and get some rest."

"I'm resting, Master Windu."

"But you would rest better in your own bed." The Korun Master's voice was friendlier than Anakin had ever heard it.

"No. Home is not home without Master," Anakin explained. "I'd rather stay here."

Mace Windu sighed: "Stubborn Padawan, just as your Master and his Master before him. You all run like rabbits when it comes to getting away from this place, but when the other is here not even a herd of banthas would be able to drag you out."

Anakin sighed: "I want Master Obi-Wan to get well."

"We all do," Mace assured him. "What happened?"

"We were on this mission and Master was totally fine until after the dinner. They served us …weird food. I couldn't eat it, but they gave me something else since I was so young. But Master Obi-Wan ate, and then he had to spend the night in the 'fresher, but he wouldn't see a healer."

Mace Windu nodded. That was the true Kenobi spirit all right.

"And then, when we were in hyperspace, I asked him to rest a bit, and he fell asleep and I couldn't wake him up. I wasn't sure if I could find my way back to Lazerian IV so I decided to take us home. The autopilot did most of it, I just had to land," Anakin explained.

"You know you're not old enough to pilot a ship?" Master Windu tried.

Anakin was close to rolling his eyes: "Well, it wasn't like there was anyone there to take over. Master wasn't conscious so I just had to get us _down_ so I could get help for my Master."

With a sigh he looked up at the Master of the Order: "He will be fine again, won't he? Master Shan and Bant can fix him?"

"I hope so, Anakin. I will stay here with you. If you want to you can lay down here and I will wake you if there are any news. I promise."

Anakin looked up at him. Kriff, he was really tired.

"'kay Master Windu," he said and laid down on the bench. A few minutes later he was sound asleep.

…

Silence. The soft humming of the spaceship's engines had stopped and Obi-Wan's eyes shot open in a minor panic attack. He regretted his action immediately and closed them again. Everything was so blasted white. Their spaceships hadn't been white. Not the least. It had been a grey, dull hull also on the inside.

It took him a moment to gather his wits, then he opened one eye slowly.

Definitely white.

And not only white. It was kriffing healerward'ishly white. He'd seen those walls and that ceiling far too often for his own likings. The question which really mattered was 'Which healing ward'? Somehow his brain felt a bit blurred but he was almost certain that he'd been on a mission with Anakin when…what…had happened. Thus he should not be home. But these walls seemed eerily familiar. And if this was home, how in all the nine sith hells had he arrived there. From the looks of all the tubes attached to his arm he'd not been in a very good condition and if he'd flown the ship home in a state like that he must have been the most irresponsible pilot ever. And if someone had had to extract him and his Padawan from Lazerian IV on their first mission ever he probably was the most imbecile Master in history too.

Either choice did not make him feel any better.

The mystery was solved a few minutes later, when Master Healer Shan peeped in and immediately registered the change in Obi-Wan's Force signature.

"Ah, so we are finally awake, Master Kenobi?" he asked.

A new groan came from the bed.

"'We' are not only awake, but intending to get out of here as soon as possible," came the grumpy reply. "What am I doing here anyway?"

"You are recovering from a good mixture of food poisoning and Tastiged flu," Shan explained. "And you're going to stay here until you are not contagious anymore. Since I was the healer on duty when you came in I have been confined to this part of the ward for almost two days now. It took us a while to figure out the reason why you were so ill but we managed to find traces of the nasty little bugs."

"Oh…" Somehow Obi-Wan felt like his head was swimming in some of that awful soup he'd been served on Lazerian IV, but there was one more question he had to ask before passing out again.

"How's Anakin?" he asked weakly. "And where in the blazes did I get this flu?"

"Your Padawan is fine. He seems to be resistant to the virus. Probably his immune defence is strong after being raised on Tatooine. He's been pestering us almost since you came in. This morning Master Windu finally overpowered him with a sleep suggestion and brought him to his own quarters so the boy could get some decent sleep. When it comes to how you were contaminated with the flu, my best bet is the ship itself. It had been to a mission to Tastige right before you borrowed it. Most likely the virus was present in the ventilation system. The Tastiged flu is highly contagious, and the virus tends to survive for days. By the way, we had to confine Master Windu to his quarters as well since he'd been spending some time with your Padawan in the waiting area. "

By the end of the explanation he realised he was talking to deaf ears. Obi-Wan had retreated into a deep slumber again.

"Oh, well. At least you won't attempt to escape yet so we may still have a chance to keep the flu from reaching the rest of the Temple," he sighed. "Thank the stars for small blessings."


	10. Chapter 10: Reunion and Repercussions

**Chapter 10: Reunion and Repercussions**

The next time Obi-Wan woke up he felt definitely better. The world was still blasted white but at least he knew where he was. And the queasiness that had bothered him last time he woke (and not to mention during and after the disastrous dinner at Lazerian IV) was totally gone. Actually he felt slightly hungry and a bucket of sapir tea would have been wonderful.

What was even more wonderful was the sight of his Padawan's face as he woke.

"Master! You're alive!

The grin that accompanied the comment could have made a fair competition with Tatooine's twin suns.

"Of course I'm alive," he answered, "shouldn't I be?"

Then a thought struck him.

"Speaking of which, what are you doing here? I thought you were confined to avoid spreading the flu virus within the Temple?"

Anakin's little nose scrunched in dismay: "I was. I was stuck with Master Windu for two days, but since neither of us has any sym…symp…..symptoms we were allowed to leave his apartment again. Do you know that Master Windu has a padawan's room but no padawan?"

"I know," Obi-Wan confirmed, "he used to have a padawan, but she was knighted long time ago."

"Oh…"

"Oh, maybe you can keep my room too when I'm knighted, then. Then I could come and visit you and take care of you when I've saved your life and…"

"Anakin, what are you talking about? You're ten years old and won't be knighted in many many years yet. And I assume I will be the life saving one for the next years to come."

"Well, I saved yours this time so it's one count for me," Anakin grinned.

"You didn't. I just got a flu," Obi-Wan protested.

"Yeah, but I got you home to the healers…"

Obi-Wan's brain snapped into gears. It was something about the boy's demeanour, and frankly he didn't quite understand how they had managed to get back to Coruscant. The last thing he remembered was boarding the ship when they left Lazerian IV and then his memory was a huge black hole. Could it really be that… ?

"What happened?" he said plainly.

"You passed out when we were in hyperspace and I didn't know what to do at first so I decided to let the autopilot take us back and I did the landing myself."

Anakin was beaming with a well-deserved and very un-Jedi'sh pride.

"You did? No, you didn't'. Did you?"

"I did! The Space Control thought that I was just a little kid playing and they were terribly insisting and then I decided that they would just disturb me and we had to get down so I switched them off and landed. It was just like pod racing…just bigger!"

Obi-Wan could feel the familiar headache growing again.

"I…well, I have to thank you for getting us back here, Padawan. But don't you ever do that again, at least not until you're old enough to fly a spaceship."

A slightly mischievous grin appeared on the boy's face: "I won't, as long as you don't go down like that and leave to me to rescue us, Master."

….

The following afternoon Obi-Wan was released and allowed to return to their apartment on the strict condition that he should stay inside it for another three days, before going out into public again.

"You shouldn't be contagious anymore," Healer Shan proclaimed, "but we want to be 110% certain."

"I will do as you say," Obi-Wan confirmed, knowing very well that the alternative would be to stay in the Healer's Ward for the same amount of time. After all he had a padawan to look after. On his way out he almost collided with a Knight entering the ward. To his surprise the Knight blushed and looked away before limping into one of the inner rooms of the Ward.

"What was that about? Did I insult anyone while I was unconscious?"

Healer Shan shook his head: "No, you were admirable quiet. I guess he may feel bad about your pale and ragged looks. Didn't you recognise him?"

"No?" Obi-Wan was still confused.

"It was Knight Aroon. He was originally assigned to the mission you've been to," Shan explained.

"Oh," Obi-Wan suddenly remembered the explanation that had been given during the mission briefing in the Council Chamber. "The one with the ankle?"

Shan just smiled.

"Oh, right. You're not allowed to tell."

A faint suspicion began to form in his mind. Could it be that…? No, a Jedi Knight wouldn't do that, would he? But on the other hand, anyone that knew about the Kingdom of Devit's ceremonial dinners would most likely do anything to stay away.

"I see," he said neutrally, "I hope Knight Mithrial has recovered well from his stomach flu as well."

Shan smiled and arced an eyebrow.

"Well, then, I'll be on my way and I promise to stay indoors in our apartment for the next three days. Thanks again Master Shan."

And with that Obi-Wan left the Healer's Ward in deep thoughts.

He spent the next couple of days digging into files which he managed to acquire from the Temple's main computer. Knight Aroon's ankle must have recovered with an impressive speed, because two days after he and Anakin had left for the mission he'd been hurt in a duel i dojo #7 and this time he'd come to the healers' with a strained ligament. The miraculous healing seemed to be contagious indeed because his opponent had been Knight Mithrial whom should have been too weak after several days of stomach flu to put up such a formidable match in the duel.

He almost chuckled when he realised how thoroughly fooled both he and the Council had been. Mostly the Council actually.

By the third day he was released from his grounding and was allowed to move freely in the Temple again as Healer Shan declared him free of any potential remaining Tastige flu virus.

"Now you're allowed to walk around without being a public threat," Shan said with a smirk. "Just be careful the first couple of days when you are in the dojos. The food poisoning has drained your strength, so you still have some recovery to do before you're up to full speed again."

"Yes, Master Healer," Obi-Wan sighed. He would never admit it but the rather short walk from the hooverlift to the Healers' Ward had taken his toll on him.

As he was about to leave, he was once more almost colliding with not only one, but two beings, who were entering the Ward on rather wobbly legs. Both beings had a most interesting green complexion, which would have been all good if they were Twi-Lek. But they were in fact human. Instinctively Obi-Wan pulled away. That colour didn't bide well for the surroundings.

"I think I've got a really nasty stomach flu," one of them groaned, "please Master Healer, do you have some antidote? I've spent most of the night in the 'fresher."

Healer Shan raised both eyebrows quizzically: "But Knight Mithrial, you seem even worse for wear now than you did when you had the last stomach flu?"

The only answer he got was a new groan and with surprising speed the Knight bolted towards the 'fresher door. Almost simultaneously the other Knight whom Obi-Wan now recognised as Knight Aroon set a steady course for the second 'fresher door.

With a shrug he left the Healers' Ward, hoping fervently that the bugs the two knights had wouldn't decide that his body was a perfect new home. He'd seen more than enough of the 'freshers inside recently.

…

His intention was to get a nap before Anakin had finished his classes for the day. He never came that far. When entering the small living room his glance fell onto the reading pad. Had he really closed it down and activated the locking code two days earlier? And hadn't he left it on top of the table in the living room but found it on the desk the morning after?

He surely had.

By the time Anakin bolted through the door he had the most certain feeling of what had happened and he was not impressed. He really had some work to do by teaching his Padawan about ethics.

"Master! You're home!"

"Yes, of course. Where else should I be?"

"Dunno'. Weren't you to see Master Healer Shan today? Are you deemed well? How do you feel?"

"Yes, Anakin. I went to see him and I'm officially free of the Tastige flu virus. However, I was told not to overexert for the upcoming couple of days as the food poisoning was quite rough. Actually, I believe some food would be nice now, so I was waiting for you to come home so we could go to the refectory and have a small celebration that we've experienced our first mission. I feel a bit hungry."

"Yes, Master," Anakin beamed.

The refectory was quite crowded when the two of them entered but they managed to find a small table for themselves and sat down with their loaded trays. Anakin's definitely carrying a heavier load than Obi-Wan's.

By the time they had finished the main course Obi-Wan cast a thoughtful glance a this Padawan.

"Anakin, since this is a celebration of sorts, you have my permission for today to dig into whatever desserts may be on the menu today."

"Really, Master? Thank you."

Anakin came back with a tray almost as full as the regular dinner tray had been.

"You want some, Master?"

"No thanks, Padawan. And I believe you should be careful as well. So many sweets may be tough to your stomach when you're not used to it," Obi-Wan admonished.

"I'll be fine, Master," Anakin retorted with the natural self-confidence of a ten year old.

It didn't take him long to polish off the plates.

"Thanks, Master. I'm really stuffed now. But it was soooo worth it."

Obi-Wan nodded, hiding a smirk.

"My pleasure, Padawan. Let's get home and have some rest. Or at least I will. I assume you have some assignments to do."

"Yes, Master."

The side effects didn't take long to occur.

Half an hour later Obi-Wan heard hurried steps towards the 'fresher door. A few minutes later a pale padawan came out.

"Master, I'm not feeling very well," he complained.

"You don't?"

"No. I think maybe I ate too much as you said."

"You're sure of that? I heard that Knights Aroon and Mithrial have got a new stomach flu. You haven't happened to be close to them recently?"

Anakins complexion changed from delay pale to deep crimson.

"I…no….Master. I….they….no, I haven't," he stuttered.

Obi-Wan met his Padawan's glance with a mild, but stern expression.

"How did you do it?" he said plainly.

Anakin's face turned almost purple.

"You know?"

"I guessed it. My reading pad had moved from the table to the desk and it doesn't move by itself."

Anakin hung his head, mortified.

"I wasn't spying, but when you went to bed you forgot to switch it off so I was going to do it, and then I saw what you've been reading. They fooled us, Master. Didn't they?"

"I guess they had learned about the celebrations in the Kingdom of Devit," Obi-Wan admitted.

"So…yesterday when I went to the refectory they were sitting by a table when I passed by. I…had some of the leafs from a Malastarian Birch in my pocket so I levitated them into their salads. I knew from the preceding class in botanics that those leaves would cause some…uhm…digestion problems for humans. You almost _died,_ Master."

"No, I didn't. I was just very ill from a combination of food poisoning and flu. None could have foreseen that," Obi-Wan said mildly. "You are aware that what you did to them actually is a revenge?"

"I…yes, Master. But I still think they deserved it," Anakin said meekly.

"And you are aware that Jedi do not seek revenge?" Obi-Wan's voice was more stern now.

"I…," Anakin's voice trembled for a moment and then he turned towards the 'fresher again.

The next time he emerged he was more subdued.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes," Obi-Wan admitted. "I was fairly certain that you'd done something to them, but I didn't know what. So I allowed you to eat as much dessert as you wanted, and I did expect something like this to happen. After all, I've done the same mistake myself," he added. "I assumed that feeling a bit of what they have to go through would remind you of your emphatic skills in a way that my words couldn't. However, when this is done with -probably later in the evening, I want you to learn one thing, and learn it well: A Jedi never, ever seek revenge. That's one of the things that make us Jedi. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master!"

And with that Anakin bolted for the 'fresher for the third time.


	11. Chapter 11: The Winter Festival I

**Chapter 11: The Winter Festival I**

"What is it?"

The slightly frustrated voice of Padawan Anakin Skywalker rang through the apartment as he entered and his Master looked up from the pad he'd been reading.

"What is…what?" he wanted to know.

"Winter Festival," Anakin explained, "all the other padawans and initiates are talking about it and I don't have the faintest idea of what it is."

Obi-Wan creased his brow. "You don't? No, of course you don't. I'm sorry Anakin, I haven't even thought about explaining it to you."

"Well, but what _is_ it?" Anakin's patience was wearing thinner by every minute.

"It's a festival," his Master explained and was rewarded with an annoyed glare from the ten year old in front of him.

"Duh, I could have figured out that myself," Anakin frowned and Obi-Wan bursted in laughter.

"I'm sorry - again. It was just too tempting," he grinned, "now sit down and I'll explain it to you."

Anakin nodded and sat down, knowing fully well that now they were talking _business_.

"You know that every planet, or at least most of them have some kind of cycles?" Obi-Wan asked rhetorically.

Anakin nodded.

"Most planets also have one cycle determined by the time it takes for the planet to circumference the sun or stare it's orbiting. Coruscant doesn't have such a thing per se, or rather we don't notice it due to the artificial climate control we have. But of course there used to be visual cycles here as well, before the planet was fully inhabited."

Anakin nodded again. Now they were getting somewhere.

"So, once a year the settings of the artificial climate control is altered so for three days it's giving us a winter climate with snow and less daylight to celebrate the end of a cycle and the start of a new one. Over the time the Coruscantii have adapted to this and they have created a celebration which is meant to be a replica of how the celebrations were done before the climate control was established. Very few people really know what it was like so I assume that if we had been able to compare the historical celebration with the one we have today it would have been quite a lot of differences."

"What is snow?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and looked at his Padawan.

"It's frozen water, basically."

"Yuck," Anakin grimaced. "Sounds too cold to me."

Obi-Wan chuckled and his eyes got a dreamy expression: "Yes, you may find that part a bit cold, Padawan, but the physical chill is overcome by the warmth in each beings hearts."

"What do you mean, Master?"

"It's the time of the year when everyone strives to be the best they can be," Obi-Wan explained. "You will see that decorations are hung up and there are even more lights than normal. But most beings also focus on being kind to each other."

"Do the Jedi, I mean we, decorate too?"

"Yes, we do. The Temple will be decorated with lights and there will be festoons hung up all over the place. Sometimes they even decorate a tree out in the Grand Hall."

"A tree?" Anakin asked incredulously.

"A tree," Obi-Wan confirmed, "I believe they borrow it from The Garden of Many Fountains and plant it back when the festival is over."

"But…you said that people should be kind to each other. We should be kind all year round, right Master?"

"You're absolutely right, Padawan. But during the Winter Festival it becomes more visual."

"How so?"

Obi-Wan blushed slightly.

"It's…well…it's hard to explain, but people do extra nice things to each other during the festival."

"What do you mean by 'extra nice things', Master?"

Obi-Wan sighed softly.

"My first Winter Festival came a few months after I'd been apprenticed by Master Qui-Gon. It took a long time before he accepted me as his apprentice and in the beginning I felt very insecure about the whole thing. I knew in my heart that the Force wanted me to be his Padawan but I wasn't too sure about his feelings in that matter. So when the Winter Festival approached I didn't know what to expect. When I was an initiate the dorms were always decorated and we got some extra treats with the meals. And we gave small presents to our best friends.

As it was, I didn't have a clue of how the festival would be for an apprentice. My relationship with my Master had improved tremendously after his best …friend, Tahl, intervened."

"Who is Tahl?" Anakin asked.

A glimpse of sorrow flashed over Obi-Wan's face and disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"She was a friend of Qui-Gon's and later a friend of mine too," he explained. "She became the closest to a mother I ever had."

"Where is she now? I have never met her."

A new flash of sorrow appeared and was effectively drained into the Force.

"She…died many years ago."

Before Anakin could come up with the next inevitable question, Obi-Wan continued his tale: "Well, anyways, the night before Winter Festival started I went to bed as usual. There were no signs of any decorations coming up and everything seemed to be normal. I felt disappointed, but did my best to hide it. After all I was exactly where I wanted to be and if there would be no celebration of the Festival in our home I could live with that.

I fell to sleep and didn't think anymore until my Master woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to get dressed. I was rather groggy from the sleep so I obeyed the requirement without any comments. It was highly unusual but I didn't have time to ponder about it. And, if so, well so be it. My Master wasn't a very ordinary man either. So I dressed quickly and followed him out into the turbolift. I was a bit surprised when he pushed the 'up' button instead of the 'down' which would have made more sense to me.

We stopped several levels up and exited the lift. Master Qui-Gon lead me through the dark corridors in the upper part of the Temple until we came to a place which obviously was in one of the towers with an overview over the main entrance. There he stopped.

'What are we doing here, Master?' I asked. I was still a bit sleepy but the tower was chilly and I felt something like excitement crawling up my spine. This was indeed not our regular habit.

'We wait,' he answered cryptically.

'For what?' I tried.

'Patience, my Padawan,' he chuckled and laid a large hand on my shoulder, 'patience.'

And then I saw it. Tiny white flakes began falling from the sky. First a few, then some more, and more and more until the night sky was a white-grey haze. It was the first snow of the Winter Festival. And then Coruscant burst into colors. I knew that there were even more lights and colours during the Winter Festival than through the rest of the year, but I had never had such an overview over it before. It was spectacular, indeed.

And the snow kept falling.

We stood there a long time without speaking, mesmerised by the sight of the white layers that slowly covered the roofs of the Temple below us. Finally Qui-Gon moved.

'I always love coming up here at this time of the year,' he said softly. 'There is no better view over the city than from here.'

I just nodded. I was dumbfounded.

'Thank you, Master, for letting me see this,' I said.

The only answer I got was a tight squeeze of my shoulder.

'Come, Padawan, we have something else to do.'

Now I was wide awake and I soon realised where we were heading. Master had a steady course towards the upper garden. The one that is basically on top of the Temple. I just didn't know why. I soon learned it.

We tread out into the garden and it was a beautiful sight. The heavy snow was covering the ground and the trees that surround the garden area. It was almost silent up there, at least as silent as Coruscant can possibly be. It was a new, white, peaceful world.

The peace didn't last long. I was in the middle of the open space just outside the door when something wet and cold hit the back of my head. Instinctively I grabbed it and felt it melt away. And I heard my Master's rumbling laughter behind me.

'One of the true joys in this world is a snowball fight during the Winter Festival,' he said, and with that a new snowball came flying through the air. This time I was partly prepared so I managed to dive before it hit me. And then I understood. I grabbed a handful snow and made a loose snowball and threw it towards Qui-Gon. It developed into a full scale snow war in the garden. Master was more precise than me in his throws, but I was young and quick and more able to hide behind trees and bushes. The fight ended about twenty minutes later when he finally captured me and pinched me to the ground. By then we were both laughing so hard that it was a wonder we didn't wake the entire Temple.

'I yield,' I gasped and Master let me go.

We were both a sight. The snow stuck to our clothes and Master resembled a wampa pup. I assume I was no better myself. We were drained partly by sweat after the exercise and partly by snow that had melted on our clothes and soaked us.

'We'd better go home and find some dry clothes,' Master Qui-Gon concluded, and even though I felt like I could have stayed there forever laughing and having fun I realised he had a valid point. Going down with a flu during the Winter Festival was not desirable.

So we returned.

I didn't notice at first that someone was in our apartment, but as soon as I came in the door I just froze - pretty much like the snow man I had resembled some minutes earlier. Candles were lit in the entire apartment, festoons hung over the window and above the doors and in the living room section a tall plant had been decorated by a cascade of tiny lights.

I just gaped.

'Welcome back, boys,' Tahl greeted us. 'Now, off you go and clean up a bit and put on dry clothes. The choc is almost heated.'

We both knew that when Master Tahl spoke it was wise to abide so we disappeared into our respective bedrooms to change into dry clothes. I came out in my sleeping pants and a clean tunic while Master Qui-Gon had found a pair of comfortable leggings and a crisp new tunic.

Master Tahl was waiting with three large mugs of steaming hot choc. I don't know what she had done to it but it was a special spicy aftertaste that was different from every other hot choc I had ever tasted before, and it tasted wonderfully together with the spicy biscuits that she'd placed on a plate in the living room.

'Happy Winter Festival,' she said.

And it was. I then realised that my fears about not celebrating the Festival properly had been totally crushed and it seemed to be the best Winter Festival I'd ever had."


	12. Chapter 12: The Present

**Chapter 12: The Present**

"Can we do the same?"

Anakin Skywalker's voice was filled with hope. The tale Obi-Wan had told him about earlier days' Winter Festival had ignited a spark in him. He wanted to experience the warm, comforting feelings of…well… _having fun_ that had shone through his Master's story.

"No, I'm sorry Anakin. We can't." Obi-Wan's answer cut the hope down before it had even began to develop.

"But why…?"

Obi-Wan grinned.

"Actually, we cannot do the same because someone must have seen our ferocious snowball match so the following year the Upper Gardens were thoroughly closed by the beginning of the Winter Festival," he explained. "So our improvised match was a one time experience. That doesn't mean that we cannot have a good time though. We just have to do it in a different way."

And with that the matter was closed.

The following days Anakin tried in several ways to figure out whether his Master had some specific plans for the Winter Festival or not. He soon realised that a secretive Jedi Master was secretive indeed. He heard rumours about something that implied snowball matches but it seemed to be more some kind of tournament than a Master/Padawan thing.

…

Obi-Wan Kenobi on his side was thoughtful. He really wanted to do the same thing for Anakin that Master Qui-Gon and Tahl had done for him. He just didn't know how to do it. The dire truth was that he had no Tahl in his life. Not anymore. What he had was Bant, Reeft and Garen, but neither of those could help him out in this matter. He could not recreate the warm fuzzy feeling Tahl and Qui-Gon's conspiracy had created in himself.

But then again, Anakin wasn't him. Anakin was kind, active and sometimes reckless. Maybe the regular habits of the Temple would be good enough. With a small additive twist to it.

Obi-Wan went to research the lists of active Knights out on missions. Maybe someone would fit his purpose.

The evening before the Festival began, Anakin was basically bouncing on his toes filled with expectations he couldn't put words on. Not even to himself.

Nothing happened.

Not until late that evening.

Obi-Wan knocked on the door to his Padawan's bedroom.

"Anakin, are you awake?"

A muted mumbling on the verge of swearing reached his ears. Like most other growing boys Anakin did not like to be awakened.

"Get up. We have work do do."

A new row of uncomprehendingly sounds came from the bedroom and a very sleepy Padawan opened the door.

"Yes, Master."

The small living room had been transformed into a maze of boxes.

"What…?"

"I said we couldn't celebrate the Winter Festival the same way as Qui-Gon and Tahl and I did, but that doesn't mean we cannot find our own way. Since we have no Tahl, we simply have to do the decoration work ourselves."

Anakin brightened visibly: "You mean…we're gonna celebrate after all?"

"Absolutely," Obi-Wan assured him, "we just have to find our own ways. And decorating our quarters is a good place to start, don't you agree?"

Anakin nodded vigorously. All sleepiness completely gone.

An hour later the small spacings had been over covered with glittering festoons all over the place. A couple of holos with sparkling images of snowfall and dancing wampas were oh-not-so-tastefully placed on the table and in the shelf.

The room looked horrible. The muted earthy colours Obi-Wan was used to (and loved) had been transformed into a glittering cave, almost as shiny as his Padawan's eyes.

"It's wonderful," Anakin declared.

Obi-Wan decided it was worth it. After all the Festival would only last for three days. When he saw the light in Anakin's eyes he would gladly live with the colorful overloaded rooms for that period.

While decorating he'd gone back and forth to the kitchen area and the smell of hot choc sifted out into the spacings.

Anakin looked hopefully up at him: "Can we have some now?"

"Not yet," Obi-Wan explained,"we have a couple of other things we have to do before we can indulge in choc. Put your boots on. And bring the robe too. We're going for a walk. And no, don't peek into the kitchen."

"Oh…"

Anakin looked slightly disappointed but did as he was told. He still hadn't given up hope that the night would imply some kind of snowball fights. He was still curious about the whole snow thing.

They didn't go out. Instead they were climbing stairs and walking through dark abandoned corridors. For a couple of moments Anakin feared that they were lost and would never find their way back to quarters again, but every time Master Obi-Wan seemed to find a new direction.

They didn't stop until they came to a window overlooking the main entrance and with a marvellous view over Coruscant's.

"Master,…is this the place?"

"Yes, Anakin, it is. Even after Tahl died, Master Qui-Gon and I used to go here to see the opening of the Winter Festival when we were on planet. I would very much like to continue that tradition with you, Padawan."

And in that moment Coruscant went black for a few split seconds before it lit up in a full spectre of bright, vibrating colors.

And the snow began to fall.

Anakin was speechless. He had somewhat known what to expect from his Masters story, but seeing it live was something entirely different.

"It's beautiful," he whispered.

"It really is," his Master confirmed while roaming the inner of his robe for something Anakin hadn't noticed. A small bottle and two small mugs came out. Obi-Wan put the mugs on the window sill and poured the steaming dark liquid from the bottle.

"I thought we could have our hot choc up here," he explained, "it sure is cold enough here."

"Happy Festival, Padawan."

"Happy Festival, Master."

They stood in the darkness watching the snow fall and admiring the vibrating colours from the city's closest merchants areas, sipping their choc in quiet contemplation until the peace was disturbed by the quiet buzz of Obi-Wan's comm link. He furrowed his brow and keyed in a couple of words on it after checking his chrono.

"What is it, Master? Is something wrong?"

"No, but we have to continue. There's a place we need to be."

"Where is that?" Anakin demanded to know.

His Master grinned again: "Wait and see."

They returned through the same corridors and stairs they had come, until they were several levels lower then they trailed off and stepped into a turbolift. Then new corridors, brighter ones this time and a new turbolift (up again). Anakin had never seen this part of the Temple before.

"Where are w….?"

"Shhh," Obi-Wan admonished, "this is not an area where we're supposed to be. Usually."

Anakin could see that. The door they had stopped outside clearly declared "No entrance".

Obi-Wan keyed something on his comm and the door opened. A bothan stood inside.

"Knight Kenobi?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan confirmed.

"This is highly unusual but I've been told by my Master that you' and your Padawan are allowed to enter this time only so please do enter before anyone else sees you."

Anakin looked quizzically up at his Master.

"Come, Anakin. Let's follow Padawan San'eeli." Obi-Wan cast another glance to his chrono. "Perfect - we're just in time."

"For what?"

"An incoming call," Obi-Wan explained cryptically. And with that he placed a couple of earphones over his Padawan's ears.

"I believe this conversation requires some discretion," he said, "you have ten minutes before the channel is closed again. Padawan San'eeli and I will wait over there until you're finished."

The last thing he heard before leaving was his Padawan's incredulous voice: "Mom? Is it really you…?"

…

It was a very quiet Padawan who followed his Master back to quarters. Obi-Wan did not initiate any conversation. He had a feeling that Anakin would not like to show too much of the emotions that were rolling through him.

They didn't speak until they were safely inside their apartment again.

By then Anakin had managed to gather some of his composure.

"How did you do that?" he demanded to know. His eyes still glistering with unshed tears but the smile on his face was so wide it almost threatened to reach his ears.

Obi-Wan smiled: "I guessed that talking to your mother for a little while would be a much appreciated Festival Present so I went to the archives and checked with the misson overview list if there were some Knights on not overly complicated missions on or nearby Tatooine. Fortunately Knight Vee was in the vicinity. I managed to contact him and wanted him to find your mother and bring her to the ship so she could net up with the comm center in the Temple. It was just fortunate that Tatooine's day cycle right now is close to the one we have here. It would have been impossible if it was mid-day there. We cannot use our hand held comms for such long distances, but ship to comm center works fine."

"But the slave implant?" Anakin asked.

"Knight Vee is very good at shielding electronics. I was fairly certain he could manage to neutralise the chip for a short period of time until your mother was safely back into it's working range. He was even more sure to it than I. It does also help that Wattoo isn't the most meticulous slave owner on planet."

"She's fine." Anakin said dreamingly. "She's at good health and…I think she's got a friend. She was mentioning someone named Lars…"

Obi-Wan just nodded.

A little while later they were both seated in their living room, this time with a more generous mug of choc. The lights had been dimmed so the sparkling from the decorations was almost bearable. Almost.

Anakin looked up at his Master: "Master Obi-Wan, I think you gave me the most perfect present ever. Thank you so very much."

The answer was a Masterly arm wrapped around his slim shoulders.

"You're very welcome, Padawan."


	13. Chapter 13: The Winter Festival II

**Chapter 13: The Winter Festival II**

Despite the late night Obi-Wan got up early the following morning. He had work to do. And he needed to be well on his way with it before his Padawan woke up. He succeeded to some extent, because his ministrations in the kitchen had almost come to an end when a sleepy Padawan shuffled out from his bedroom.

" 'morning, Master," he mumbled. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Good morning to you too, Anakin," Obi-Wan answered blithely, "first of all - there are no regular classes during Winter Festival and secondly, I wanted you out of my apron while I was preparing breakfast. Go get a shower and wake properly."

"Mhm, " was Anakin's less than polite reply.

When he reappeared he was considerably more awake.

"Mmmm, do I smell pancakes? But….Master, this is too much food for us?"

"For us, it is, but not when we're joined by Bant, Garen and in particular Reeft," Obi-Wan explained.

"Oh, if Reeft is coming then you should double the recipes," Anakin grinned.

"Don't insult my friends," Obi-Wan admonished with a glimpse in his eye that made Anakin snicker. "Instead you can go out on the balcony and have your first meeting with the snow. You will need it tomorrow."

Anakin opened the door and literally froze. Going out there barefooted had not been the best of ideas.

"Master! It's cold!"

"Told you so."

From inside Obi-Wan could see his Padawan bending down and grabbing a handfull of the white stuff.

"Try to cram it to a ball with your hands," he instructed.

Anakin did (for once) as he was told.

"Wow, it's not like sand. It can be shaped."

"Right. And we will use that tomorrow."

Before Anakin could follow up with a question the doorbell rang and he ran to open it and Garen, Reeft and a slightly more timid Bant entered.

"Breakfast is almost ready," Obi-Wan proclaimed, "please take a seat while Anakin lay the table."

"Me?"

"Yes, you… You do want pancakes. Right?"

"Oh, okay."

The breakfast was a lively gathering with a lot of banter back and forth between the old friends, while Anakin and Reeft practically were fighting each other to get the most pancakes. Bant was the first to give in.

"This was delicious Obi. Thanks so very much for inviting us."

"Oh, he's just intending to make us so stuffed that we won't be worthy opponents tomorrow," Garen proclaimed. "He's sneaky, that one."

"Opponents? For what?" Anakin's confusion shone through the phrasing.

"The snowball tournament of course, what else?"

Anakin turned towards Obi-Wan: "Master, I thought you said that the Gardens were closed for such activities? "

"Oh…that. No, Only the Upper Gardens," Obi-Wan answered with a slight blush.

"Obi," Garen grinned, "haven't you informed your Padawan?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I actually forgot. We had other plans yesterday."

"Can anyone inform me about what we're talking about?" Anakin sighed.

Garen chuckled: "It will be an honour, young one, since your old Master seem to forget one of his most important duties. Back in our childhood, when your Master was still young and promising he had an epic snowball fight with his Master upon the Upper Gardens. Little did they know that they were observed by several padawans who had got up to see the first snow fall. The result of this event was that the night after the Epic Battle of the Gardens a bunch of senior and junior padawans entered the garden and an even larger snowball war broke out. Some of the older initiates snook out rom the creche and mingled in. It turned into a veritable chaos and the healers spent the rest of the night mending black eyes, bruised shins and bleeding noses.

So, the following year the Council closed off the Upper Gardens, but…they launched a more organised snowball tournament in the lower level gardens where there is more space and less danger of someone falling over the wall. Everyone who want to participate is teaming up in pairs and fight for 5 minutes. The winning pair of each match is then fighting towards another winning couple and so it goes. The main tournament is for the Masters, Knights and Padawans, while there is a similar tournament for the younglings in the creche taking place in another part of the garden. The tournament takes place the second day of the Winter Festival and is followed by a banquet. "

"Oh," was all Anakin managed to say, "will we participate tomorrow, Master?"

"That was my general idea, yes," Obi-Wan confirmed, "and unless you want to team up with someone else I suggest that we make a team."

"Yes, Master."

…

The following day emerged with a clear blue sky and heaps of white delicious snow. The anticipation in the Kenobi/Skywalker apartment was almost palpable. The evening before had been spent drinking tea and chatting with their guests until Reeft had raided most of the leftovers in the cooling unit, which left them with no other choice than leaving quarters to get their mid-day meal. Obi-Wan and Anakin had ended up down in Coco Town where Anakin kept staring on all the bright colourful lights and the booths where refreshments and various food could be bought. Obi-Wan's abilities in precognition had made him bring credits enough to be able to feed his Padawan.

They were both well prepared for the battle ahead.

The Lower Gardens were covered with deep piles of white snow. A large number of padawans and knights had lined up two and two, and even some masters were present. A larger group of older masters had taken place by the garden walls to watch the fight. Master Tiin opened the tournament: "The fight takes place with snowballs only. Any use of lightsabers is strictly forbidden, as is any attempt of using the Force to throw piles of snow to blind the contestants or using the Force to block incoming snowballs. You should all aim for the vests as any hit in other parts of the body will not be counted."

Obi-Wan and Anakin were numbered as the fifth team, which gave Anakin a possibility of watching the first teams fight. He soon realised that spending the first minute piling up a heap of snowballs would be a good idea.

When their turn came Anakin was almost jumping out into the battlefield before the 'ready' signal was made, and only Obi-Wan's quick intervention prevented a disqualification. The opposing team took a quick lead but after the first two minutes Anakin got the knack of making new snowballs fast. When the five minutes match was over, the number of registered hits were even but as Anakin and Obi-Wan had managed to get more hits on the smaller one in the opposing team, they were granted the victory.

The last match in the first series brought the crowd into wild cheering. On one side were the contestants Mace Windu and Master Yoda, on the other side Kit Fisto had paired up with Even Piell.

"I have never seen Master Yoda participate before," Obi-Wan whispered.

The match turned into an even fight until the last minute when Windu and Yoda had developed a technique where Yoda crammed snowballs at an impressive speed close to the ground as he was, while Windu was throwing them in a machinelike speed making Kit Fisto's head tentacles almost clog by the amounts of snow that was thrown towards him. Even Piell managed to get away less soaked, being a more diminutive target.

"Ach," he complained, "a dri kloak I must get. I am freezing into a snowball myself."

Kit just grinned widely and shook the remaining snow out of his tentacles.

While waiting for the next round serving droids moved around with trays loaded with hot cinna tea. Masters Yoda, Windu, Tiin and Fisto took place in each of the four corners of the arena and the spectators could see the now firmly packed snow being lifted up into the air before it fell softly again. Anakin just glanced in awe.

"They really did that?"

"They did."

Obi-Wan and Anakin won their next fights with improving number of hits, as Anakin became more used to the snow.

In the quarter final they were matching Windu and Yoda.

"Uh-oh," Obi-Wan groaned. "This will be a tough match. Let me pull the attention to myself in the beginning of the match while you make as much snowballs as you can. I have an idea…"

Anakin nodded.

The match began and Obi-Wan acted as a voluntary target drawing the attention to himself. As a padawan he had specialised in Ataru and the acrobatics became very useful now as he ducked, leapt and evaded the hailstorm of snowballs being thrown at him. After the first two minutes he could see Mace becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Now, Anakin, grab as many of the snowballs you can from those you've made and hold on," he shouted and with a well placed Force lift Anakin took off from the ground and flew through the air, landing unsteadily in a tree behind the 'enemy's ' lines.

Mace and Yoda was under double fire.

Obi-Wan grabbed the remaining snowballs and began firing. The double fire made the evasive manoeuvres of Mace ineffective and soon he was powdered with snow. Anakin was about to fire his last three snowballs when the branch under him suddenly moved and again he sailed through the air.

"Oofff," he breathed, landing back first in a soft undisturbed pile of snow. And in that moment Master Tiin's whistle signalised the the match was over.

Mace Windu and Yoda won with two hits.

Obi-Wan had to dig his else unharmed and heavily laughing Padawan out from the snow, while Master Yoda watched them with a huge grin on his face.

"Cheated you did, Knight Kenobi. No Force throwing, the rules said."

"Did not," Obi-Wan protested. "Force throwing snow was forbidden, not Force throwing padawans. Every single hit we made was done by a snowball formed by our own hands and shot from our hands."

"Then allowed myself to…ah….stir the branches a bit, I did," the old troll grinned. "A very equal match it was."

In the end Masters Windu and Yoda won the tournament and they were carried inside the Temple by an enthusiastic group of contestants.

…

The refectory and the Grand Hall was reeking of unusual delicious scents. The participants of the snowball tournament had changed into dry clothes and entered the Grand Hall with their fellow Jedi. Laid tables were placed everywhere and light cubes on each table gave the rooms a warm and inviting glow. Several buffets with food suitable for the various species that inhabited the Temple were set up in the refectory and the seating would be in the Grand Hall. Soft music was playing in the background as they entered.

Obi-Wan and Anakin ended up together with Bant, Reeft and Garen, and with Padawan Tru Veld and his Master Ry-Gaul. The two young padawans were eagerly discussing the tactics implemented in the various matches earlier that day.

"Sit with you I may?" Master Yoda asked politely.

"But of course," Obi-Wan confirmed, and while the old Master carefully let his hoover chair elevate to a height suitable to fit with the table he delivered his congratulations.

"Congratulations, Master. I have never seen you participate in the snowball tournament before. How come you decided to do so this year? "

The old being chuckled.

"When almost nine hundred years old you become, Obi-Wan, fun must be grabbed whenever you can. Assumed I did that a most creative fight you and your Padawan would put up. And you did. Fun it was, and despite my old bones don't like the action, I surely did."

…

It was late at night when the Master/Padawan team returned to quarters. Both tired, both satisfied after an evening with good food and pleasant company.

As Anakin's head hit the pillow Obi-Wan peeked in: "Good night Padawan, and may you sleep well tonight."

"Good night, Master," Anakin mumbled sleepily, "you were right. The Winter Festival is really fun and people are really nice to each other."

And with that a contented silence fell over the small apartment, while the snow kept falling silently outside.


	14. Chapter 14: Cycles

**Chapter 14 : Cycles**

"Hello there, Anakin. How was your day?"

Obi-Wan's greeting when Anakin burst in through the door was the same as always when he was at home and Anakin entered after a long day with classes.

What was not the same was his appearance and his Force aura. It had been a long day contemplating the last year's events, and he felt mentally and physically exhausted despite doing nothing but sitting on the couch staring out into empty space all day.

Anakin immediately noticed the thick atmosphere.

"Master? What is it? Are you sick? Should I call the healers?"

"No!"

Obi-Wan's answer was harsher than intended. Much harsher.

"No," he added more softly, "I'm fine, I was just thinking."

"Must have been some thoughts," Anakin grumbled. "You were unusually quiet yesterday…oh….it's that day, isn't it?"

He looked up at his Master with round blue eyes.

"Yes, Anakin," Obi-Wan sighed softly, "it's that day."

Anakin sat down, for once very quiet.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Yes."

No need of lying when something was as clearly visible as his mood today. Anakin would see straight through a lie anyway. They had already become very attuned to each other and opposed to many other Master/Padawan teams in the Temple they were already able to run full scale speechless conversations.

"Would you…would you want him here more than me, now?" Anakin's voice was thin and a bit shaky.

Obi-Wan felt like being struck by a lightening bolt. He honestly didn't know what to say for a moment. Sometimes he missed Qui-Gon Jinn so much that it felt almost like physical pain, he missed his advice, his sometimes sarcastic comments and his stubborn belief in himself and his ways, even when it was utterly annoying.

And yet, after this year, the thought of not having Anakin in his life felt almost as painful. Being stuck in the apartment without the young, lively, boisterous and sometimes annoying presence of his young Padawan was almost unthinkable. Almost.

The silence between the two became almost unbearable for a moment. Then Obi-Wan looked up.

"No, Anakin, not more than you. But not much less either. I miss him, that's true because we had a long history together, but without you I would miss my own -our- future."

A chill ran through his body in the very same moment the last word was uttered, and he felt something…dark sweep through the room. Then it disappeared and the light was back.

"What I'd wish for would be having both him and you alive and well here," he sighed, "though I know that is an impossible wish."

Anakin stretched out a small hand and squeezed his Master's larger one.

"Mom said that nothing lasts forever and that we should be grateful for the good persons who come in our way," he said, using a phrasing much older than his own age should imply. Then he brightened.

"Come Master, let's go for a walk."

Obi-Wan raised an amused eyebrow.

"Walk? Where?"

"You'll see."

Curiously he followed his Padawan out the door.

….

The Garden of Thousand Fountains was unusually quiet at this time of the day. Even at it's more crowded periods it was not a noisy place per se, but many Jedi found the place calming and chose to gather there for quiet contemplation, meditation or even just hanging out with friends. But when Obi-Wan and Anakin entered there were just a couple of meditating old Masters to be seen.

Anakin tugged Obi-Wan's sleeve.

"Come…"

They crossed through he garden obviously aiming for the little lake which stretched out in the inner part of the garden. The tingling of droplets from the many fountains in the center was the only sound that could be heard together with the twittering from small birds nesting in the tall trees nearby the lake.

Anakin didn't stop by the lake, instead he continued downstream the little river that fed water from the lake into the recirculation system. Obi-Wan drew a relieved sigh. At least they didn't go upstream. He had no particular desire to see again the cliff where Bruck Chun had lost his life so many years ago.

They ducked beneath a couple of low hanging branched and came to a small opening in the thick vegetation. The river was clucking and burbling happily as it passed by on it's way to recirc.

"Sit," Anakin ordered. "Feel."

Obi-Wan cast another amused glance at his Padawan.

 _When the Padawan teaches the Master, the pairing is right._

The old saying fluttered through his mind, and he realised the depth of it. Whatever Anakin was up to, it would be interesting.

So he obeyed. He sat down on the grass and stretched out with his feelings. He could feel life vibrating around him. He could feel the trees and the bushes, quiet and content in the safe environment the garden provided. He could feel myriads of small insects, carrying pollen back and forth through the vegetation. He could feel the water passing by, entering a new cycle…

Oh…

A new cycle.

There it was, clear as daylight. A new cycle. In the same way as the water in the artificial lake was recycled and in the same way as the vegetation renewed itself in cycles his life was about to be renewed. The old life he'd shared with his Master was truly left behind and a new cycle of life with his own Padawan had begun.

He'd known it for a while. He'd partly and gradually come to terms with it throughout the last stressful year, but now he was ready to embrace it.

And in that moment he felt it.

A low contented chuckle in the breeze and the brief touch of a big hand on his shoulder, and then it was gone again, as if it had never happened.

"Qui-Gon? Master?" His lips moved without any sounds. No further answer was acquired.

It wasn't necessary. He'd already got his answer. That would be enough.

Slowly he opened his eyes, and looked at Anakin.

The youth's expression was eager, anxious and yet full of a wisdom older than his years.

"Did you feel it?" Anakin said eagerly. "Did you feel him? Master Qui-Gon, I mean."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly.

"Maybe. I'm not sure. Have you come here often?"

Anakin looked down. "Not recently, but when we came here I decided to explore the garden and when I felt sad I came here where no-one could see me. I sometimes…well…wanted to cry. And I didn't want anyone to see it."

Obi-Wan nodded. He could understand the boy's feelings, even though he felt a bit ashamed for not providing enough comfort and support through their first turbulent weeks. At least he was supposed to be the grown up of the team.

"And then," Anakin continued, "I sensed Master Qui-Gon here too, and he told me it was OK to be sad but I shouldn't let it overpower me. Once I even could see him. I think, but I may have fallen asleep too and dreamt it. He was kinda…like on Naboo, before….well, you know…but he was blue all over."

Obi-Wan nodded. He didn't feel to certain about the entire 'blue Qui-Gon' thing but he'd learned his lesson. Cycles. That was it. They had begun a new cycle of life.

Slowly he stood up from the ground. Anakin did the same, and without any more words they found their way out from the green quiet cave.

As they continued up the path towards the entrance of the gardens, he let his hand rest on the Padawan's shoulder. There was something reassuring in the touch for both of them. Life would go on.

"Thanks for taking me here," he said. "I'm glad we're a team, Anakin."

"Me too," Anakin beamed towards him, "we're 'The Team', Master."


End file.
